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Ci

'iI.

CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN.

AUNT CHAR LOTTES
STORIES OF

FOP THE LITTLE ONES

L' ha'lo Atto M. C 1nEe

P, A R CU z WAR D s C-, L N0 CN r& BELFAST.

AUNT CHARLOTTE'S

STORIES OF

BIBLE HISTORY

FOR THE LITTLE ONES.

BY
CHARLOTTE M. YONGE,
AUTroK OF "T HE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE," "STORIES OF ENGLISH HISroRY," &C.

Ip HESE Readings give the outlines of the
Scripture narrative to very young children.
The first half of them will be found, if
begun on Septuagesima Sunday, to follow the course
of the First Lessons for Sundays, so that the three
short Readings can be gone through with children
each Sunday; but they can be read as a consecutive
history. In the Gospels, it was of course impossible
to adapt the story to the Sunday Lessons, and it has
therefore not been attempted. It is hoped, however,
that this may serve as a useful introduction to Scrip-
ture history, and give children a better understanding
of the connection of the Lessons they hear at
Church.
CHARLOTTE M. YONGE.
Nov. 3rd, 1874.

CONTENTS.

PAOG
The Making of the World 11
How Sin began and the Flood came 17
The Rainbow 23
Abraham and Lot 29
Jacob's Journey 35
Joseph in Egypt .41
Joseph's Brothers 47
The Call of Moses 53
The Plagues of Egypt 59
The Passover 64
The Gainsaying of Korah 69
Israel in the Wilderness 74
Balaam and Balak 79
The Giving of the Law .85,90
The Death of Moses 95
The Holy Spirit of Love 99
The Glory of God o5
Israel in Battle I
The Judges of Israel 116
Samuel 121
King Saul 127
The Reign of Saul 132
King David reigning 139
Preparing for the Temple 144
Solomon in his Glory 148
Solomon's Fall 52
The Kingdom of Israel 156
Elijah and Ahab 62

viii Contents.

PAGE
Elijah and Elisha 168
Elisha's Miracles 173
The Ruin of Ahab's House 179
Hezekiah and Josiah. 184
Jehoiakim's Cruelty .
Jeremiah's Prophecies 193
The Taking of Jerusalem 199
The Fall of Jerusalem 205
The Jews at Babylon 211
Daniel at Babylon 216
The Return from Babylon 223
Troubles of the Jews 230
The Coming of the Lord 236
The Childhood of our Lord 241
The Preparation for the Ministry 246
The Calling of the Disciples. 251
The Ministry 256
Wonders of our Lord's Working 261
Going up to Jerusalem 266
The Evening of the Betrayal 271
The Trial and Condemnation 276
The Crucifixion 283
The Resurrection 288
The Ascension 293
The Waiting-time 298

PAGE
Elijah on Mount Sinai 162
Ascent of Elijah 168
Naaman at Elisha's door 173
Jezebel at the Window 179
Hezekiah spreading Sennacherib's Letter before the LeJ 184
The Feast of Tabernacles 190
Offering Wine to the Rechabites 193
Reading the Roll to Jehoiachin 199
Jews driven away captive 205
Daniel refusing the Dainties 211
The Handwriting on the Wall 216
Daniel in the Lion's Den 223
Esther before King Ahasuerus .230
The Annunciation 236
The Nativity 241
Jesus with the Doctors in the Temple 246
Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes .251
Raising the Widow's Son 256
The Transfiguration .261
Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem 266
Jesus blessing little Children .271
Jesus before Pilate .276
The Crucifixion 283
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene 288
Jesus ascends into Heaven 293

'A r .-;.

"THE GARDEN U" EDEN.

first Su nqa.- j tapsiltu.

THE MAKING OF THE WORLD.
FIRST READING.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."-Gen. i. I.
T O-DAY we are told how God made this earth that we
live on. Sunday is the earth's birthday, for on the first
day of the week the Creation began.
The world was all one mass-dark, empty, and shapeless-
till God made the light by His Word, and said that the light
was good. Without light we could not live: even the very

12 First Sunday-Septuagesima.

trees and flowers would die. When we have been in the dark
how glad we are to see light come back, even if it be only one
grey line beginning in the sky! This show" how blessed is
this gift. It was good, too, that we should have quiet dark
night for rest and stillness.
The second great change enclosed the earth in an outer
ball of air, which we call the sky or firmament. That is the
deep blue into which we look up and up. The water rises up
from the earth and makes the clouds that take such strange
shapes, sometimes dark and full of rain to water the earth,
sometimes shining white, or pink and golden with morning or
evening light.
The third great change was, that water filled the deep
hollows of the earth, while the hills rose up dry above them,
with rivers and streams running down their slopes into the
deep seas below. God did not leave the land bare and stony:
He clothed it with green fresh plants and herbs, with leaves
and flowers, and trees to give us their fruit or their wood, and
filled even the sea with plants formed to live under water.
Next, God allowed the rays of the sun to gladden the earth,
and let it see the moon lighted up by the sun, as well as the
stars far beyond our firmament. We count the months by the
changes in the moon; and our earth's journey round the sun
marks our years and seasons. We all rejoice in a bright
sunny day, though the sun is too bright and glorious for us to
bear to gaze at him; and how lovely the moon looks, either
as a young crescent, or a beautiful full moon!
The waters began to be full of live things, that swam, or

The Making of the World. 13

crept, or flew: fishes, and birds, and insects. By that time
this world was nearly as we see it, and a beautiful home for us
to live in. Then God made the four-footed beasts-sheep
and cows, horses, dogs, cats, elephants, lions-all that we use
or admire; and, last of all, when He had made this earth a
happy, healthy place, He planted the Garden of Eden, and
put in it the first man and woman, the best of all that He had
made; for though their bodies were of dust, like those of
the beasts, yet their souls came from the Breath of God.
They could think, speak, pray, and heed what is unseen as
well as what is seen.
There are many many lessons to be learnt from this wonder-
ful story. Let us try to take home one of them. Let us ask our
Father that the ground below, the light above, the sky and
sea, the sun and moon, the trees and flowers, the birds and
beasts, and His holy day of rest, may remind us that they
came from Him, and that we may be very thankful to Him
for having given us such good things.

QUESTIONS.
I. Who made the world ? 2. Which Commandment tells you about
God's making the world? 3. What is there in the sky that God made?
4. What is there on the earth? 5. What do you see round you that He
made? 6. Can we make birds, or beasts, or flowers? 7. Or could we
make them live ? 8. Who makes them and us live? 9. Where does all
our food come from? 10. Who gave us corn? I What must we ask
God to do for us ? 12. What must we thank Him for? 13. Do not you
think it would be pleasant to whisper to yourself, when you see a pretty
flower, or a beautiful sky, or when the sun shines bright and warm,
"Thank God for being so good to me "?

14 First Sunday-Septuagesima.

SECOND READING.
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
-Genesis, ii. 7.
SN the Bible God tells us that He made the world, and
everything in it: land and water, and grass, flowers and
trees, insects, birds and beasts, and last of all He made the
first man and woman. The man was made by God out of the
dust of the ground, and then God breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and gave him a living soul. An4d the
woman was made by God out of the man's side. They
were called Adam and Eve, and they were to be the first
father and mother of everyone who was to be born into the
world.
The good God gave them a beautiful home. It was a gar-
den, with a clear river of water flowing through it, and all
kinds of delicious fruit-trees and beautiful flowers growing in
it. Nothing could hurt or vex them there. They did not
know what pain was, they were never tired, and all they had
to do was to dress the garden and to keep it. They had no
faults, and never did wrong; and God Himself came near to
talk with them.
That was the way they lived, always good and always
happy, whilst they obeyed what God had told them. In the
midst of the garden grew two trees: one was the Tree of Life,
and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of good and
evil. God told them that if they ate the fruit of this Tree of
Knowledge they would die. We do not know what those

The Making of the World. 15

trees were like, but sometime or other I hope we shall see the
Tree of Life, for it is growing in heaven, close by the river
that flows by the Throne of God; and when we see it, and
taste of it, we shall live for ever, and be happier even than
Adam and Eve were. We shall never be as happy as they
were while we are living in this world; but if we will try to
obey God, and live holy lives, He will take us to heaven, and
that will be still better than the Garden of Eden.

QUESTIONS.
i. What did God make ? 2. Whom did He make? 3. What was the
man made of? 4. What was the woman made of? 5. What did God
breathe into them? 6. What did He give them? 7. Why were they
better than the beasts? 8. What was the man's name? 9. What was
the woman's name? o1. Of whom were they the father and mother?
II. Where did they live? 12. What had they to do there? 13. What
grew there? 14. What were the two chief trees that grew there? 15.
Which were they not to touch? 16. Where is the Tree of Life now?
17. When do we hope to see it ? 18. What is a still happier place than
the Garden of Eden ?

THIRD READING.
"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further : and here shall thy proud
waves be stayed."--.ob, xxxviii. I1.
W HAT glorious and wonderful things God has made! Did
"you ever see the sea? There it is-a great vast space,
all water, looking green near us, but blue further off-always
heaving up and down. The waves rise, and then ripple along,
and burst with a white edge of bubbles of foam. And, if you

16 First Sunday-Septuagesima.

live near the sea, you know how, at certain times in the day,
one wave after another begins to break a little higher on the
beach; eight waves seem to run up the same distance, then
the ninth comes much further, then eight more come like hat,
then another. A great space that had been left dry gets
covered up with water again, and where you were walking just
now is quite deep water. What is this called ? The tide.
Well, what will the tide do in proper time? Will it come
rolling in over the beach, sand, pebbles, and rocks, and wash
us all away and drown us all, and cover up the land ? No;
presently each will turn. Each wave will be a little less high
than the last, till it will have gone back again and left the
beach uncovered as before. Why does the tide do this? It
is because God so wonderfully contrived this earth and sea,
that the waters should rise and go back. He made the sand
the bound of the sea, and said, "Hitherto shalt thou come,
but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."
So, you know, we sing in the Psalm every Sunday-
The sea is His, and He made it:
And His hands prepared the dry land."

QUESTIONS.
I. Which day was the sea and land made? 2. What curious thing
does the sea do every day ? 3. What do you call the coming in and going
back of the sea? 4. Why does the tide always stop in its Ipoper place?
5. What did God make the bound of the sea ? 6. What did He say to
it? 7. What verse praises God for making the sea?

put a man and woman to live in it. The man was named
Adam; the woman was named EXPELLve. God gave them a beau-
HOW SIN BEGAN AND THE FLOOD CAME.
FIRST READING.
"The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."-Gen. iii. 13.
LAST Sunday you heard how God made the world, and
put a man and woman to live in it. The man was named
Adam ; the woman was named Eve. God gave them a beau-
tiful garden to live in, full of trees and flowers; and they had
no pain, no trouble, nothing to vex them. Only one thing
God told them: there was one tree whose fruit they must not

B

18 Second Sunday-Sexagesima.

eat. They might eat the fruit of all the other trees, but not
of that one. As long as they obeyed, all was well and happy
with them; but if they ate it they would die. But a bad spirit
came and took the shape of the serpent, and talked to Eve.
He told her a wicked lie-he told her that to eat the fruit
would make her wise, and would not make her die. And Eve
listened, and did eat. And she gave Adam, and he also ate;
and so they took the bad spirit for their master instead of the
good God. Then God was angry with them, and put them
out of the garden, and let them be weak and sickly, and die
at last. It is a sad thing for them and for us. For if they
had been good and obeyed God, and not the bad spirit, it
would have been easy to us to be good, and we should not
have had the devil tempting us to do wrong: we should have
never known pain or sorrow. But God pitied Adam and
Eve, and us too; and he promised them that the Seed-
that is, the Son-of the woman should bruise the serpent's
head, and set them and their children free. Our Blessed Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and of the Virgin Mary, set us
free when He died on the cross and rose again; and now we
belong to Him, and not to the bad spirit. Only we must try
and ask Him to help us not to do what is wrong, as Eve did,
or we shall not keep free from the power of the enemy.
QUESTIONS.
i. Who was the first man ? 2. Who was the first woman? 3. Where
did God put them? 4. What was the one thing they might not do ? 5.
What was to happen if they ate of that fruit? 6. Who came and spoke
to Eve? 7. What shape did the bad spirit take? 8. What did he tell

How Sin Began and the Flood Came. 19

Eve? 9. What did she do? o1. Whom did she make her master? II.
What was done to punish her? 12. What sad things did the bad spirit
bring on her? 13. Who came to set us free from the bad spirit ?

SECOND READING.
"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth."-
Genesis vi. 17.

T HE Lesson this morning told the sad history of how
Adam and Eve did the very thing that God forbade; so
that He drove them out of the Garden of Eden, and sin and
death came into the world.
After that they had children. Some were good, but not so
good as Adam and Eve had been at first; and some were
bad. And as time went on the bad ones grew worse, and the
good ones were tempted, and many of them grew wicked too.
And so all the world was getting wicked, and God saw
nothing but evil when He looked down on it. And He said
that He would destroy these wicked people, and wash away
the evil from the earth by a great flood. But there was one
good man, whose name was Noah; and God said He would
save him. He bade Noah build an Ark. It was to be a
great ship, all made of wood, and it took a great many years
to build; and all that time people laughed at Noah, for they
would not believe that anything was going to happen. Noah
made the Ark, and stored it with food. And God sent him a
pair of all sorts of animals that were in the world, and he put
them into pens in the Ark. Then Noah and his wife, and his

20 Second Sunday-Sexagesimna.

three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives, went
into the Ark, and God shut them in.
Then it began to rain. It rained for forty days and forty
nights without stopping, and the rivers came out of their
banks, and the sea came upon the land, and the ground was
covered up. Even the tops of the highest hills were hidden,
and everybody and every creature was drowned-all but Noah
and those that were with him. There was the Ark all the
time, floating quite safe on the water. The storm could not
upset it nor the sea get into it, for God took care of it and all
that was in it.
The reason Noah was saved was because, first, he tried to
be good, and not do like the bad people round him; and
next, because he believed what God said to him, and went on
making the Ark, even when he saw no danger. If we wish
God to save us, then we must take care that we do just what
we are told-not what seems pleasant now, but what is really
right.
QUESTIONS.
I. Do you know why Adam and Eve were driven out of the happy gar-
den? 2. How did people go on after that? 3. How had sin come into
the world? 4. What did God say He must do to the world? 5. Why?
6. Who was to be saved? 7. What was Noah to make? 8. What was
the Ark like ? 9. What were put into it ? o1. Why were two of all crea-
tures put into the Ark ? I What men and women were in it ? 12. What
were the names of Noah's sons ? 13. What happened when Noah was in
the Ark? 14. How long did it rain? 15. What was covered up? 16.
What became of all the people? 17. Who were safe? 18. Where was
the Ark? 19. Who took care of the Ark? 20. Why was Noah saved?

How Sin Began and the Flood Came. 21

THIRD READING.
"So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."-
Genesis viii. 2.
T must have been a sad sight for Noah and his wife and
their sons, as the rain went on and on, and the water
grew deeper and deeper, and everybody and everything was
drowned. Then came a time when nothing was to be seen
but water. Wherever they looked all was sky and water; but
it had done raining, the sky was blue again, the sun shone by
day, the stars by night, and they must have been very glad.
And still the water got lower, till the Ark did not float about,
but stopped, resting on a peak of a mountain, a very high
mountain, and a few bare tops of other hills began to peep
out. By-and-by, Noah opened the window of the Ark and let
out a raven. He never saw the raven again, for a raven eats
dead things, and there were so many dead bodies floating
about that it got plenty of food, and never came back to the
Ark that had saved it. He waited a week, and then he let
out a dove. Now doves like trees to sit and nestle in, and
they eat grains and seeds; so the poor dove found no place
to rest in, and flew back to the Ark; and Noah took her
back, and kept her a week, then let her fly again. She flew
away, but still she came back to the Ark, and this time she
brought in her beak a sprig of olive branch.
It was the first green thing that Noah had seen for a year!
Noah's children have loved the olive leaf everywhere, and cal-
led it the sign of peace and good news ever since.
For now Noah knew that the waters had gone down, and

22 Second Sunday-Sexagesima.

that trees must be able to put forth leaves again. Once more,
after another week, he let out the dove, and she did not come
back, for she had found a tree where she could make her
home, and seeds to eat; and then Noah knew the sad time of
the flood-a whole year-was over, and the earth had been
washed from all her stains.

QUESTIONS.
i. What was the Flood? 2. What was the Ark? 3. Who was in it?
4. What had Noah with him in the Ark ? 5. What became of everyone
else? 6. Why? 7. Why was Noah saved? 8. How long did the Flood
last? 9. What birds did Noah send out of the Ark? o1. Which came
back? Ii. Why did not the raven come back? 12. What did the dove
bring? 13. What was Noah sure of then? 14. What had the earth
been washed from?

41Q
N. _

__. _ i.. _

S- '-. ---71
NOAH RECEIVING THE DOVE INTO THE ARK.-PAGE 21.

THE RAINBOW.
FIRST READING.
"I do set my Bow in the Cloud."-Genesis ix. 13.
YTHE sin that came into the world when Eve listened to
the tempter had grown as men multiplied and made each
other worse. The wicked people had been drowned in the
Flood, and Noah, his sons and their wives, had alone been
saved in the Ark. After a whole year of being shut up there,
watching the earth, first drowned and then coming out of the

24 Third Sunday-Quinquagesima.

water, they had just come out on the fresh green earth, with
all the animals saved with them, when God spoke to them.
Then God made a promise to Noah. It was that no flood
of water shall ever drown all the world again, but spring,
summer, autumn, and winter, day and night, will go on to the
end of the world, when it shall be burnt up by fire, not
drowned by water. That Noah, and all of us after him, might
feel sure that God in His mercy will go on preserving us, and
giving us days and nights, seed-time and harvest, He gave us
something to look at as a sign of His promise. He so ordered
the rays of light, that when they shine upon drops of water in
the air they cause beautiful colours, making part of a circle,
so as to form a bow. So when the sun shines on a cloud,
as it rains, the fair bright rainbow is seen, as a pledge to us of
God's merciful care and love to us. There is a rainbow round
about the Throne of God in Heaven; and the lovely rainbows
that we see when the sun shines out, and the showers drift
away, are to put us in mind that we are safe under His care,
in right of His promise to Noah and his three sons, of whom
the whole earth was overspread. We are the children of his
son Japhet, and all that was then said to him belongs to us
also. We should recollect it, and put our trust in Him, and
be thankful when we see the beautiful soft arch that the
Hands of the Almighty have bended, looking out of the
midst of the dark watery cloud.
QUESTIONS.
I. What beautiful sight do we sometimes see after a shower? 2. What
is a rainbow like? 3. Who put the rainbow in the cloud? 4. Who was

The Rainbow. 25

the man to whom God showed the rainbow? 5. What promise did God
make Noah? 6. What had God just done to the wicked people? 7.
Whom had he saved? 8. What did He say should always go on? 9.
What did God put in the sky to show that He will not send another
Flood? 10. What are we to think of when we see a rainbow? II. Who
takes care of us ? 12. Where is there a rainbow in Heaven above ?

SECOND READING.
"In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."-Genesis xii. 3.
W HEN Noah's grandchildren and great-grandchildren
"came to be more and more, and the world was being
filled with people again, they still were not all good, and the
longer time went on the worse they grew.
At last God called to a very good man, whose name was
Abram, and told him that if he would come away from his
home to a land God would show him, then God would bless
him and lead him, and by-and-by give the land to his children,
and that their children after them should be more in number
than the grains of sand on the sea-shore, or than the stars in
the sky: and that in his seed-that was, in a Son of his-all
the nations of the earth should be blessed.
It was strange to hear all this about Abram's children, for
he was growing an old man, and he and his wife Sarai had no
child at all. But he believed in God. He knew that God is
Almighty, and can do whatever He will; so he only did just
as God told him, and went away from his home, where God
told him. He was obliged to take all his cattle with him-
quantities of cows, and goats, and sheep, and camels, and

26 Third Sunzday-Quinquzagesima.

asses; and he had servants to drive them. When they came
to a piece of grass and a fresh spring of water, there they
would stop. They had no houses-only tents, which were
great curtains woven of goat's hair and fastened up with
poles, so that they could be set up or taken down, and carried
about. All his life Abram lived in a tent, instead of staying
at home in a city, and being at his ease.
By-and-by he came to a beautiful country. There were
high cool hills rising up, and green valleys between, full of
grass for the sheep and cattle; and the wide sea spread out
far away towards the sunset, all blue and glorious. God told
him to look at the land, for that was the place which his
children should have for their own; but in the meantime
Abram had not one bit of it, and was a stranger there; and
he had no child either.
But still he was quite sure that God spoke truth; and that
somehow, though he did not know how, it would come about
that his children should have the land, and that in One all the
nations of the earth should be blessed. That was faith.

QUESTIONS.
I. What good man do you hear of to-day? 2. What did God tell
Abram to do? 3. What did God promise? 4. Who were to have the
land? 5. Why was it strange to hear of his children? 6. But did he
believe it would come true? 7. Why did he believe it? 8. How did he
show that he believed ? 9. Where did he go ? o1. What had he with him ?
1I. What did he live in? 12. What is a tent like? 13. What sort of place
did he come to? 14. Who were to have this land? 15. How many were
his children to be ? 16. Did he believe this ? 17. What is believing called ?

The Rainbow. 27

THIRD READING.

"Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me."-Gen. xiii. 8.

TYWO men were travelling together. They were an uncle
and nephew. The uncle's name was Abram, the nephew's
was Lot. They had come from home, because God had told
Abram to come away from his own home to the land that
God would give his children. Abram believed, and did as
God bade him; and Lot, the son of his dead brother, went
with him. They did not go alone. Each of them had great
flocks of cows, and sheep, and camels, and asses, and goats,
and numbers of servants to take care of them. They would
fix their black tents, made of camels' hair, in any place where
they saw a spring of water and good green grass for their
cattle; and there they would stay till all the grass was eaten
up, and then take up their tents and move to another place.
Just now they had got to a bare stony place, where the sun
shone hotly, and there was not much green; but Abram had
built up an altar with the great stones, and prayed there.
Abram and Lot loved one another, and were at peace; but
when their servants drove out their flocks to get food and
water there were apt to be quarrels. If Abram's men found
a green grassy valley, they would not let Lot's cattle into it;
and if Lot's came to a well, they would not let Abram's flocks
drink; and so on. They were always quarrelling and making
complaints to their masters. At last Abram saw that they
would make Lot quarrel with him. So he said it would be
wiser to part; Lot should go one way and he another-any

28 Third Sunday-Quinquagesima.

way there should be no strife. And he even told Lot to
choose which way he would go. So Lot looked, and saw to
the East a pleasant green valley, with fields of corn and mea-
dows, and a fine river running into a clear lake, and five fine
towns on the bank. He liked it better than the bare stony
hills where Abram was; and he never thought whether the
people were good or not, but he took the first choice, and
went to live there. So Abram gave up. He had the right to
choose first, but he would not use it. He let his nephew
choose. For he hated quarrels, and knew they were wicked;
and he knew how to stop them, because he would yield up the
best. That is the way to make peace and please God.

QUESTIONS.
I. Who had called Abram ? 2. Who went with him ? 3. What was Lot
to Abram? 4. Why did they go? 5. What had God promised? 6. What
had they with them ? 7. Who quarrelled ? 8. About what did the servants
quarrel? 9. Did Abram and Lot quarrel? o1. How did Abram prevent
a quarrel? ii. Who was to choose first? 12. Who might have chosen
first? 13. Why did not Abram choose first? 14. Ought you to be in
haste to take the first choice? 15. What should you try to hinder? 16.
And if you keep yourself back, and don't say It's mine," and I must,"
shall you not be likely to keep from quarrels ?

1 -.- A-.

,, ..

-. J _

AUBAHAM OFIFEING ISAAC.

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ABRAHAM AND LOT.
FIRST READING.
Escape for thy life ; look not behind thee."-Genesis xix. 17.
T HERE was a beautiful valley, with steep hills shutting it
in on all sides, and a clear swift river running through
the midst and spreading into a lake. There were fine fields
and rich grass, where sheep, cows, and goats could feed, and
the shepherds shelter themselves under the palm trees ; and
on the bank of the river were five cities, with strong walls

30 Fourth Sunday-First in Lent.

round them, and full of rich people, who bought and sold and
made merry with the good things they possessed. There was
one man living among them who was good, and was grieved
by the wicked ways of the men round him, who only laughed
at him if he tried to tell them of better things. One evening
two strangers came into the city where he lived, and he was
the only person who would take them in, and shelter them
from the wicked people in the street.
Those strangers told him the place was to be destroyed,
with all that were in it, because it was so wicked! Though
the fields looked so quiet, the walls so strong, and the sun
had gone down as usual, all would be ruined in a few hours'
time! Then the strangers took hold of him, and his wife
and daughters, and led them almost by force away from
their home in the dawn of morning, bidding them escape for
their lives to the mountain, and not look back. They were
frightened, and begged not to have to go so far as the wild
mountain. Might they not go to the little city near at hand?
And their wish was granted. Just as the sun had risen they
entered the little city for which they had begged; and as soon
as they were safe the four towns, that had seemed so strong
and firm, were all burning with fire and brimstone; and all
the sinners who had mocked at warning were soon lying dead
under God's awful anger! Four alone had been led out of the
city by the strangers, but even of these only three came into
the city of refuge. The wife did not heed the warning not to
linger nor look back, the deadly storm overtook her, and she
remained rooted to the spot-a pillar of salt!

Abraham and Lot. 31

The names of those cities were Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the one good man who was saved by the mercy of God was
named Lot. And now a strange gloomy lake called the
Dead Sea covers that valley with its heavy waters, and the
bare rocky hills, crusted with salt, show that the curse of God
is on the place.
Let us try to carry home one thought from this terrible his-
tory. This world will one day be burnt up like those cities,
and its looking safe and prosperous now does not make it safe.
But God sends messengers to lead us out of it. If we attend to
them, and follow their advice, we shall through all our lives be
getting out of danger, and going on to a safe home in heaven;
but if we care only for pleasant things here, it is like looking
back, and our souls will perish with what they love. That is
why our Saviour bade us Remember Lot's wife." We should
remember her when we are tempted to think it hard to give
up anything pleasant, because we are told that it is wrong, and
may put us in danger of God's anger.

QUESTIONS.
I. What was the name of the place I told you of to-day ? 2. What was
the name of the man ? 3. What kind of place was Sodom ? 4. Who was
the only good man there ? 5. Who came to Lot ? 6. What did he do for
the strangers ? 7. What did the strangers tell Lot ? 8. Why was Lot to
come out of Sodom? 9. Why was Sodom to be destroyed? io. Where
did Lot go? II. Who looked back? 12. What became of her? I3. What
did God do to Sodom ? 14. What sort of place is it now ? 15. What will
be burnt up some day ? 16. If we are not good, what will become of us ?
17. But what have we to teach us to be good? 18. And how must we try
to come out, like Lot ?

32 Fourth Sunday-First in Lent.

SECOND READING.
"Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son from Me."-Genesis xxii. 12.
BY-AND-BY Abraham had a son-one only son, whose
name was Isaac. All the promises God had made were
to be for Isaac's children after him: and Abraham loved God,
and hoped all the more.
But then God called Abraham to do a strange and terrible
thing. He was to go and take his dear son Isaac to the top
of a hill, and there to offer him up to God as if he had been a
calf or a lamb. Of course, in general, to do such a thing
would be shockingly wicked ; but Abraham knew that when
God commanded a thing, it must be right to do as he was
bidden, however dreadful it was to him.
So they set out together. Abraham took the knife, and a
vessel with fire in it? and Isaac carried the wood with which
the sacrifice was to be burnt. On the way Isaac said, My
father, behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering ?" And Abraham answered, "My son,
God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering."
Isaac soon knew he was to be the lamb, for his father put
the wood in order, and bound his limbs, and took the knife.
And Isaac did not complain or struggle. He was ready, like
his father, to do the will of God. But just as Abraham had
the knife ready to slay his son, an angel called to him out of
Heaven: Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou
anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, see-
ing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me."

Abraham and Lot. 33

Then Abraham unbound his son, and was as glad as if
Isaac had really risen from the dead. And he saw a ram
caught in the thicket by its horns; so he took that, and of-
fered it up instead of Isaac. Thus God really provided a
lamb for a burnt offering.
And He blessed Abraham more and more, and promised
again that his children should have the land, and that in his
Seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. That
Seed was our blessed LORD JESUS CHRIST, who, you know,
was really given by His Heavenly Father to die, and then came
back from the dead, that all people might be saved by Him.

QUESTIONS.
i. What was the name of Abraham's son ? 2. What had God promised
Abraham? 3. What had Abraham done at God's command? 4. What
was he now to do? 5. Whom did he obey? 6. Where was he to go? 7.
Who went with him? 8. What did Isaac ask? 9. What did Abraham
answer? 10. Who seemed likely to be the lamb? I What was Abra-
ham just going to do? 12. Who called him? 13. What did the angel
tell him? 14. Why was God pleased with him? 15. What blessing did
God give him? 16. Who was to be his Seed in whom all families should
be blessed ?

THIRD READING.
"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you."-Genesis xxiii. 4.
A BRAHAM and his wife Sarah had lived together many
years; but at last Sarah died, and Abraham wanted to
bury her. You know in all the country he had not one morsel
of ground of his own; he was a stranger there, but he knew

c

34 Fourth Sunday-First in Lent.

it would all belong to his children by-and-by. But he wanted
to make sure of the one bit where his wife should lie. So he
went to the prince to whom Hebron belonged, and begged to
buy a field with trees in it, and a rock where there was a deep
cave that was called Machpelah. The prince said he would
give it; but Abraham could not feel sure that it would be
always safe till he had bought it. So he weighed out the price.
It was not in little bits of money like ours, but lumps of silver
all the same weight, and each with a mark stamped on it-
four hundred of them. Then the cave was given to Abraham,
and he had his good true wife Sarah buried there, rolled in
linen with spices. He was buried there afterwards himself,
and so was his son Isaac, and Isaac's son after him, in the
cave of Machpelah.
That cave has been kept sacred ever since. There is a
building over it now, and no stranger is allowed to go into it;
but deep down there is a golden grating, and far within lie
these holy men and women of old. Their bodies are waiting
to rise again at the Last Day, and then I hope we shall see
them and know them.
QUESTIONS.
I. Who was Abraham's wife? 2. Where did Sarah die ? 3. What did
Abraham want to do? 4. Had he any ground? 5. So what was he
obliged to do? 6. Of whom did he buy the place ? 7. What was it called ?
8. What is a cave? 9. What did he pay? o1. What was Abraham's
money? Ii. Who were buried there afterwards? 12. How is the place
marked now? 13. When will Sarah's body leave the grave in the cave of
Machpelah? 14. What do you say you believe in? (In the eleventh
Article of the Creed.) I5. What is Resurrection?

L 4
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ISAAC BLESSING JACOB.

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YA COB'S Y70 URNE Y.
FIRST READING.
"Bless me, even me also, O my father."-Genesis xxvii. 34.
OD had called Abraham from his home, and promised to
give his children the land of Canaan, and that in his Seed
all the nations of the earth should be blessed. This was re-
newing to Abraham the great promise of the Seed of the
woman that had been made to Eve; and Abraham believed,
and was glad. But though his children were to have the land,

36 Fifth Sunday-Second in Lent.

none of it was his; and he went up and down in it a stranger,
living in his tent, without house or home, only trusting in faith
to God's promise to his children. His son Isaac lived like
him, with no home, but looking on in faith to what God pro-
mised. Isaac had two sons; and as Esau was the eldest, he
had the first right to these promises. But Esau did not care
enough about them; he did not seem to get anything by
them, and he liked what he could get at once better than
what was a long way off. He had no faith. One day he came
home half dead with hunger, and saw his brother Jacob mak-
ing soup over the fire. He said he would give all these rights
for a meal of the soup; for if he died of hunger, what good
would his birth-right do him ? So for a mess of pottage he
sold his right to the land of Canaan, and to be the forefather
of our Saviour.
A time was to come when he would be sorry for what he
had done. His father was old and blind, and thought he was
going to die; so he bade Esau, whom he loved the best, bring
home some meat and make a solemn feast-which was the
way then of giving a blessing. Esau went, and in time brought
home the meat to his father; but when he came in, Isaac cried
out, and trembled! His brother Jacob had come in his stead,
and Isaac had taken him for Esau, and given to him the bles-
sing that gave the right to the promised land, and to all God's
promises!
Then Esau cried out with an exceeding bitter cry, and
asked if his father had but one blessing! Isaac was grieved
for him, and blest him with all his heart; but there was no

Jacob's Journey. 37

changing back, no taking away what Jacob had won and Esau
had lost.
Esau did not know what he was doing when he took the
pottage at once, rather than wait patiently for the glorious in-
heritance that was to come. This was the reason that he was
allowed to be so cruelly disappointed. This is a warning to
us. We have the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven pro-
mised to us; but we are tempted not to care about it when
we want something here in this world, whether play, or dress,
or anything that seems a great deal to us now. But if we
trifle away our right to these great promises that God made
us at our baptism, there will come a time of bitter grief, when
it is too late. And when we are dead, it will be too late to
change! Therefore, now while we are alive, we must have
faith, and show it by taking care that the things we like here
on earth do not make us lose the better things in heaven.

QUESTIONS.
I. What were the names of Isaac's two sons ? 2. What had God pro-
mised Isaac? 3. Which son had the first right to the promise? 4. But
which cared about it most ? 5. What did Esau want ? 6. So what did he
give up for the sake of the soup ? 7. Could he get it back again ? 8. What
are you an heir of? 9. How could we lose the inheritance of the king-
dom of heaven? 10. Shall we be able to change after we are dead ? 11.
Then what must we care about most ? 12. Why could not Esau get his
father's blessing? 13. What did he like better than waiting for what he
could not see? 14. Can we see heaven? 15. But when we get there, will
it not be better than anything we can see here?

38 Fifth Sunday-Second in Lent.

SECOND READING.
"This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
-Genesis xxviii. 17.

"YOU know that Isaac, Abraham's son, had two sons, whose
names were Esau and Jacob. Now Jacob had grieved
Esau by gaining God's great promise, for which Esau did not
care till he had lost it. And Esau was so angry with him,
that he had to go out away from his father's home, all alone.
But Jacob knew he was not alone, for God was with him. He
went on till night came. Then he was in a dismal stony place,
with no house or shelter near-only big stones, and here and
there a thistle. He said his prayers, and then he lay down,
with a stone for his pillow and the sky over him. But in the
night he saw a wonder. There was a ladder reaching from
earth to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down,
and the Lord Himself stood at the top of the ladder. And
He told Jacob that He was going to give his children all the
land he saw-North, South, East, and West; and that He
would take care of him, and be with him wherever he went,
and in time bring him safe home.
Jacob woke, and found it was a dream, but he knew it was
true, and that God had really spoken to him; and though he
was glad he was afraid, and he said, "How dreadful is this
place this is none other but the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven." And that he might always know the place,
he put one of the great stones upright, and he took some of
the sweet olive oil he had brought to eat on his journey, and
poured it on the stone, as the only thing he could do to show

Jacob's Journey. 39

honour to God. Then he made a solemn holy vow, that if
God would take care of him on his way, and give him food to
eat and clothes to wear, he would make a gift to God all his
life of the tenth part of all he had. Good people like to do
like Jacob, and give God their tenth. And if we only had our
eyes opened to see, like his, we should see God's angels com-
ing up and down with blessings for us, for we go to the house
of God and gate of heaven whenever we go to church. Let
us recollect how awful Jacob felt it to be so near to God.

QUESTIONS.
I. Who was Jacob? 2. Who was Isaac? 3. Who was Esau? 4. Why
-was Jacob obliged to go away ? 5. What was the promise ? 6. What kind
of place had he to sleep in? 7. What was his pillow? 8. But what did
he see? 9. Who went up and down? 10. Who stood at the top? Ii.
What did God promise him? 12. What did Jacob say of the place ? 13.
How did he mark it? 14. What did he pour on the stone? 15. What
vow did he make ? 16. What are our houses of God ? 17. Who come up
and down to us? 18. What do the angels bring us? 19. How much did
Jacob promise to give to God ? 20. What does God do for us?

THIRD READING.
"As a prince hast thou prevailed."-Genesis xxxii. 28.
T was a long journey that Jacob had had to take, but God
took care of him, and brought him safe to the home where
his mother had come from. He lived there, and took care of
his uncle's sheep and cattle, till he had earned a great many
for his own; and he had married there, and had a great many

40 Fifth Sunday-Second in Lent.

sons. But after a time God commanded him to go home to
the land of Canaan. He was afraid, because he thought his
brother Esau might still be angry with him; but, in spite of
his fear, he did as God bade him. When he came near the
river Jordan, which flows on the East side. of the land of
Canaan, he prayed to God to guard him, and once more God
let him see the angels who were going with him to protect
him. He was glad, but he was still very careful. He chose
out a present of cows, and goats, and camels, and sheep, and
asses, for Esau, and sent it on to meet him; and then he sent
on the other cattle he wanted to keep for himself; then his
children ; and last of all, in the safest place, his dear young
son Joseph.
Esau came to meet him, but not in anger. The two bro-
thers met, and fell on one another's neck and kissed one
another, and were friends. So God had kept His promise to
take care of Jacob; and Jacob kept his promise, for he set up
an altar at Bethel, where he had seen the angels before, and
praised and blessed God.

QUESTIONS.
i. Who was Jacob ? 2. Why had he left home? 3. With whom did he
go to live? 4. What did he earn there? 5. Why did he go back? 6.
Why was he afraid ? 7. But what comforted him? 8. Of whom do God's
angels take care? 9. What did he give Esau ? o1. How did he put his
family in order? 11. Who went last ? 12. How did Esau meet him ? 13.
What was the quarrel between them? 14. But was Esau angry? 15.
How did Jacob show he was thankful?

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JOSEPH'S COAT SHOWN TO JACOB.

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JOSEPH IN EGYPT.
FIRST READING.
His brethren envied him."-Genesis xxxvii. II.
I TOLD you how Jacob went away from home, and how
God promised to take care of him. He did take care of
him: He led him to his uncle, and with him Jacob lived many
years, and then came back with flocks of sheep and goats,
camels and cows. And he had twelve sons. The best of all
his sons was named Joseph. Jacob loved him very much, and

42 Sixth Sunday- Third in Lent.

gave him a striped dress of many colours, such as the son
wears in those countries who is to be the heir. But his bro-
thers hated and envied him, and could not speak peaceably to
him. One day, when Joseph was seventeen years old, ten of
the brothers were out with their sheep, and Jacob desired
Joseph to go and see what they were about. He would not
tell his father how unkind they were to him, but he went; and
as they saw him coming some of them were so wicked as to
say that they would kill him, and never let him go home.
Reuben, who was the eldest brother, tried to hinder them; but
when he saw he could not stop them, he said the best way
would be, not to kill him, but to let him down into a dry well
just by. There they meant to let him starve to death; and
they let him down without any pity for him. Reuben meant
to come by-and-by and take Joseph out of the pit and save
him; but there was another brother, named Judah, who did
not want to have him killed, and who saw a great party of
men, with camels and asses laden with goods, going on a jour-
ney. He knew they were merchants, going to sell and buy in
Egypt, and he advised the other brothers to persuade them to
buy Joseph: for in those days men and women used to be
bought and sold, and were called slaves. So Joseph was
drawn up out of the pit; and when the merchants saw what
a fine young man he was, they paid the price for him and
carried him off, away from his father and all he had ever
known or cared for before. The cruel brothers kept his
coloured dress; and they killed a kid and stained it in the
blood, and then carried it to their father, telling him they had

7osep/ iZn Egypt. 43

found it. Jacob thought some wild beast had met Joseph and
killed him, and eaten him, and he mourned and wept. His
sons pretended to comfort him; but not one of them would
tell him that Joseph was not dead.
QUESTIONS.
r. Whose son was Jacob? 2. How many sons han Jacob? 3. What
did he set them to do? 4. Which did he love best ? 5. What did he give
Joseph? 6. Where did he send Joseph? 7. What did the brothers want
to do ? 8. Who wished to save him ? 9. So what did Reuben persuade
them to do? o1. What did Reuben mean to do? ii. But who came by ?
12. What did the brothers do with Joseph ? 13. Who persuaded them to
sell him? 14. What are people called who are bought and sold? 15.
What was done with his coat ? 16. What did Jacob think?

SECOND READING.
"The Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand."-Genesis xxxix. 3.
SO we see Joseph a slave. A slave is a servant who belongs
to his master, as his cows and horses do; he gets no
wages, and cannot go away, but is bought and sold like cattle.
Think of poor Joseph. He was uscd to live as the son of a
great rich prince, wearing a dress of miny bright colours, with
many servants, and no one to obey but his kind fond father;
and living in a beautiful land, all hill and valley, where he
used to feed his father's flocks. But now he was a slave in a
strange land, with people speaking a language he did not
know, and no one to care for him or say a good word to him,
shut up in a house in a town, far away from his dear hills.
Still he had one comfort, and the best of all-God was with
____________________________________________

44 Sixth Sunday- Third in Lent.

him. He could still pray to God, and do his duty. And he
did his work well, for God helped him, and everything he did
was made to prosper in his hand. Then he was trusted. His
master knew that he always took care of everything, as if it
was his own, and left all to him, quite sure that it would be
safe. But his wicked mistress made up a story that he had
behaved ill, and he was put in prison for what he had not
done. This sounds hard, but it was God's own way of bring-
ing good to pass, and making Joseph come at last to honour.
Very soon he was loved and trusted in his prison; and all he
did the Lord made it to prosper.
Think about this. Try when you have anything to do-a
lesson or a bit of work-to ask God to make it prosper. Then
if you try your best He will help, and it will be sure to turn
out well.
Then try to deserve to be trusted. That is a great thing.
If you always recollect that God sees you, you will do the
same when no one is with you as if all the world were watch-
ing; and that is the way to be true and just in all your deal-
ings. If you are only good when you are looked at, you are
not like Joseph, but are only doing service outwardly. You
must try to live that your parents may
Out of sight
Know all is right,
One law for darkness and for light."

QUESTIONS.
r. Whose son was Joseph? 2. How many brothers had Joseph? 3.
What had they done to him? 4. Why had Joseph's brothers sold him?

joseyp in Egypt. 45

5. What is a slave? 6. How did Joseph behave as a slave? 7. Who
comforted him? 8. How did he take care of his master's things? 9.
Who made up a story against him ? o1. What was done to him ? I But
who was with him still? 12. Did he always stay in prison? 13. And
what did people think of him, wherever he was ? 14. What is the way to
be like Joseph ? 15. If you are trusted to carry a message, how should
you do it? 16. Who always sees you? 17. Then, even if no one is by,
how should you behave?

THIRD READING.
Do not interpretations belong to God ?"-Gen. xl. 8.

T HE young son of Jacob, Joseph, had, you know, been sold
by his cruel brothers, and made a slave of; and then a
wicked falsehood was told about him, and he was put into
prison. But wherever Joseph was he tried to do his duty, and
so God blessed him; and the keeper of the prison soon found
out how different he was from the others, and let him help.
I suppose he helped to carry them their food and wait upon
them; and he often could say a few kind good words to them.
One day two grand people came in as prisoners. One was
the chief of all the bakers, who made bread for king Pharaoh;
and the other was the chief of all his cup-bearers, who carried
him his wine. Some wrong thing had happened, and they
were both suspected of having had something to do with it, so
they had been sent to prison. One morning Joseph saw them
both looking more sad than usual; and when he asked what
was the matter, they said each had a dream, and they wanted
to know what it meant; for the Egyptians used to think a

46 Sixth Sunday- Third in Lent.

great deal of dreams, and there were men among them who
pretended to explain them. Most dreams have no meaning,
but these had, and God put it into Joseph's heart to under-
stand them. The cup-bearer had dreamt that he saw a vine,
and that it had three bunches of grapes, and that he was
squeezing the juice into the king's cup as he used to do.
Joseph said this meant that in three days the cup-bearer
should really hand Pharaoh the cup again; and Joseph beg-
ged that when he was free, he would tell the king about him-
self, and get him set free. Then the baker told his dream-
that he had three baskets full of pastry and bread ready for
Pharaoh, but that the birds came down and ate them up.
Joseph was obliged to tell him that this meant that he would
be hanged, and that the vultures and ravens would eat his
flesh. So it happened. Pharaoh looked into the matter in
three days' time; he caused the baker to be hung, and the
cup-bearer to come back to his old place. But the cup-bearer
was ungrateful, and forgot all about Joseph in his prison,
trusting to him.
QUESTIONS.
i. Who was Joseph? 2. Where was he? 3. How came he to be in
Egypt ? 4. Where had he been put? 5. Had he done anything wrong?
6. Who trusted him? 7. What had he to do? 8. Who came into the
prison? 9. What was the cup-bearer's dream? Io. What was the baker's
dream? II. What did Joseph say the cup-bearer's dream meant? 12.
What did the baker's dream mean? 13. What happened? 14. What
had Joseph asked of the cup-bearer? 15. Did he remember?

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JOSEPH EMBRACTNG HIS FATHER.
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FIRST READING.
"We are verily guilty concerning our brother."-Genesis xlii. 2 1.
OSEPH did not always stay in prison, for God gave him
wisdom to tell the king of Egypt that his dreams had
meant that there were going to be first seven years of very
fine harvests, and then seven years would come of no harvests
at all. So the king took him out of prison, and made him a
great lord ; and he set to work to buy the corn that was over

48 Seventh Sunday-Fourl in Lent.

and above what people wanted to eat in the years of plenty,
that he might store it up against the years when the corn
would not grow.
So when the bad harvest began, Joseph had plenty of corn,
and he sold it for the king to all who wanted it. The famine
was not only in Egypt, but in all the countries round; and
by-and-by Joseph saw, among the people that came to buy,
ten of his own brothers-the same who had sold him for a
slave. He knew them, for they still looked like shepherds;
but they did not know him, for he had grown from a youth to
a man, and was dressed like an Egyptian lord; and he would
not seem to know them, though, he wanted much to know
what had become of his old father and his little brother Ben-
jamin. He made as if he thought they were enemies, come to
see if Egypt could be conquered when it was so bare of food.
Then they told him who they were; that they were all one
man's sons, and that one brother they had lost; the other
was left with his father, who could not bear to part with him.
Joseph would not seem to believe this, and said he must keep
one of them in prison, while he sent the rest back to fetch "
their youngest brother, or else he could not believe them.
Then, when fear and trouble came on them, they began to
think how ill they had used their lost brother Joseph; and
they said to each other, "We are verily guilty concerning our
brother." Joseph heard them, and could hardly bear it; but
still he kept to his plan. He kept Simeon a prisoner, that he
might be sure of the others coming back, and sent them home
to fetch Benjamin. But he would not have any of the money

7oseph's Brothers. 49

they had brought for the corn, and made his steward put it
all back into the mouth of their sacks.
When they found this out as they went home, they were
much afraid; and when they came home, their father was
more afraid still. After the way they had used Joseph, he
thought they had killed Simeon, and wanted to kill Benjamin.
They spoke truth now, but he could not believe them; and he
said he could not send Benjamin, for if mischief should befall
the lad, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow
to the grave."
QUESTIONS.
i. Where was Joseph ? 2. Why was he in prison ? 3. What did God
make him able to tell the king? 4. How many years was there to be
much corn? 5. What was to be done with the corn? 6. Who managed
the buying it? 7. When was the corn wanted? 8. Who came to buy
corn? 9. Who did not come? io. Why did not Joseph's brothers know
him? II. What did he make believe to think? 12. Whom did he tell
them to fetch? 13. What did he give back to them ? 14. What did their
father say about Benjamin's going? 15. Why was he afraid to trust them
with Benjamin ? 16. What is the way to be believed ?

SECOND READING.
"God Almighty give you mercy before the man."-Genesis xliii. 14.
OSEPH'S brothers were soon obliged to go again and buy
More corn in Egypt. Joseph had said they must bring the
young brother they had told him of, or he should not believe
their story; and when they said Benjamin must go, their father
Jacob was greatly grieved, and showed how little he could
trust them now, after the way they had behaved to Joseph.

1)

50 Seventh Sunday-Fourth in Lent.

He would not have let Benjamin go at all if Judah had not
promised to take the greatest care of him; and Judah could
be trusted.
The story is so beautiful, and so easy to understand in the
Bible, that I hardly like to tell it in my own words. Only
think of Joseph's heart being so full when he saw his own
dear youngest brother, that he could not stay with him for
his tears, and went away to weep in his chamber! And yet
he still tried the brothers. He wanted to see if they still were
envious of the one their father loved best; so he made his
steward hide his cup in Benjamin's sack of corn, and then go
after them, and pretend to think they had stolen it.
The sons of Jacob were no thieves, and they said the
steward might search their sacks. They took them down
and looked, and there was the cup in Benjamin's sack!
They were all shocked; and the steward said that Benjamin
must go back and be punished.
How pleased they would have been long ago if such a mis-
fortune had happened to Joseph! But now their hearts were
changed, and they were shocked and grieved.
QUESTIONS.
I. What had Joseph's brothers done to him ? 2. What trouble did you
hear last Sunday he was in ? 3. But how did he behave? 4. And what
had he come to be? 5. What had he stored up? 6. Who came to buy
corn ? 7. How many brothers came ? 8. Which did not come ? 9. Why
did not Benjamin come? o1. Did the brothers know Joseph? Ii. What
did he tell them to do ? I2. When he saw Benjamin, where did he go ?
13. What did Joseph tell his steward to do ? 14. What did Joseph want
to see ? 15. How did the brothers behave this time?

7osep/h's Brothers. 51

THIRD READING.
"God did send me before you to preserve life."-Genesis xlv. 5.
ALL the eleven sons of Jacob turned back in grief, and
Sfear, and dismay, when Benjamin, the youngest brother,
whom Judah had promised to bring safely back to their
father, was found to have the silver cup of the lord of the
land in his sack. How it came there they could not guess,
but they knew that their father's heart would break if they
came home and left Benjamin to be a slave.
So they all came to the lord of the land; and Judah
stood up before the strange, stern, princely man, and told
him how much their old father loved this youngest son, and
he would be sure to die if the lad did not come home safe.
And then Judah begged to stay and be a slave in Egypt,
instead of his brother Benjamin, for he said if mischief
befel the lad his father would die, and that he could not
bear to see.
But when Judah so spake, the lord of the land sent all the
lookers-on away, and wept aloud, and said that he was their
own brother Joseph, whom they had sold so long ago. He
would not let them be afraid; he embraced them all and wept
for joy, and asked for his father. Then he told them not to
grieve for what had gone before; for God had turned it all to
good, and made him be the means of saving all their lives, by
storing up the corn in Egypt.
And now they were to go home, and tell Jacob, their father,
that Joseph was still alive, and was a great and powerful man;
and they were to fetch old Jacob, their father, and their wives

52 Seventh Sunday-Fourth in Lent.

and their children, and all they had, and come to live with
Joseph in Egypt, where he would take care of them.
That was the way Joseph forgot all the ill his brothers
had done to him, and forgave them, and loved them with
all his heart. When the brothers came home, their father
Jacob could scarcely believe such good news; but at last
he said, "Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go to see him
before I die."
And he came down to Egypt, and Joseph met him and fell
on his neck and kissed him; and then there was joy indeed,
joy as if Joseph had come back from the dead.
So Jacob lived all the rest of his life in Egypt, and was
happy with his son Joseph. God had given him another
name, Israel, and his sons, and their sons after them, were
always called the children of Israel.

QUESTIONS.
i. Who was Benjamin? 2. What was found in Benjamin's sack? 3.
Who put it there? 4. What was going to be done to Benjamin? 5.
Who spoke for him? 6. What did Judah ask? 7. Who did the lord of
the land turn out to be ? 8. How came Joseph to be in Egypt ? 9. Why
had his brothers not known him sooner? o1. How did he treat them?
II. Whom did he send for? 12. What did Jacob say? 13. Where did
Jacob go to live ? 14. Why was it very kind in Joseph to help his bro-
thers ? 15. Did he give back to them the harm they had done to him?
16. How could we do like Joseph?

-

THE BURNING BUSH.

THE CALL OF MOSES.
FIRST READING.
I have surely seen the affliction of My people."-Exodus iii. 7.
Y OU heard how Joseph brought his father and brothers and
their children to live in Egypt. Their children's children
went on living there for many years, till they had come to be
a great people, and were called the children of Israel; but
then the King of Egypt grew cruel to them. He made them
work very hard to make bricks and build towns for him; and

54 Eighth Sunday-Fifth in Lent.

what was still worse, he ordered that whenever a little boy
was born to the children of Israel, he should be thrown into
the river and drowned.
One mother hid her little baby for three months, and when
she could not hide him any longer, she put him into a little
cradle of bulrushes covered over with pitch, to keep the water
out, and let the cradle float on the river, leaving the little
boy's sister to watch him. Presently a lady, no other than
the daughter of the cruel king, came down to bathe in the
river. She saw the little cradle, and had it brought to her.
The little baby was crying, and the lady pitied him and took
him home, to bring up for her own child. She wanted a nurse
for him, and his sister fetched his own mother, and she be-
came his nurse.
His name was Moses, and we hear about him in the Lesson
to-day. He was not living with the king's daughter now.
The king had grown angry with him because he cared for his
own people, and he had had to flee away and keep sheep in
the wilderness.
And there he saw a great wonder. He saw a flame of fire
in a bush, and yet the bush was not burnt. And God's voice
spoke to him out of the fire that did not burn, and told him
that the troubles of His people, the children of Israel, were
to come to an end. God would save them from the cruel
Egyptians; and Moses himself was to go and lead them out,
and bring them to the good land that God had promised that
Abraham's children should have for their own. Moses was to
go and tell the King of Egypt that it was God's will that they

The Call of Moses. 55

should go. Moses was afraid at first, but God promised to
help him: and next Sunday you will hear what happened.

QUESTIONS.
I. Who was Moses? 2. Where was he put when he was a baby? 3.
Why was he put on the river? 4. Who had said the little boys were to
be drowned? 5. Whose babies were they that were to be drowned? 6.
What other cruel things did the King of Egypt do to the children of
Israel? 7. Who were called the children of Israel? 8. What became of
Moses in his bulrush cradle? 9. Who brought him up ? o1. Did he stay
with the king's daughter? 11. Whom did he care for ? 12. What wonder
did Moses see? 13. Who spoke to him? 14. What was God going to
do for His people? 15. What land would He give them? 16. Who had
the first promise that his children should have the good land?

SECOND READING.
"And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord ?"-Exodus v. 2.
i OSES and his brother Aaron went and told Pharaoh
God's message, that the people of Israel were to go away
and worship Him. But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that
I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the
Lord, neither will I let Israel go." And he was more cruel to
the children of Israel; he made them work harder and harder,
and had them beaten if they did not do all the work that was
set them. They had to make bricks of clay mixed with straw;
and, to punish them, Pharaoh said that they should have no
straw given to them for their work, but that they must find it
for themselves; and yet he required of them just as many
bricks as they had had to make before. Then they cried out

56 Eighth Sunday-Fifth in Lent.

and were angry, and fancied Moses had brought all this trou-
ble on them, by asking for them to go. They were very mis-
erable, and said they wished they had never listened to Moses,
for he had only made them worse off instead of better.
Aaron was a better speaker than Moses, and God had said
he should help him, and that, when God told Moses anything,
Aaron should speak it to the people. So the two brothers stood
telling the Israelites to bear it a little longer, and then it would
be all well and over, and they would get away from making
the bricks in Egypt to the beautiful country. They could not
remember it themselves, but some of their fathers' grand-
fathers had been little boys when they came, and could tell
them that it was a country not all flat, with only one river in
it, like Egypt, but full of steep hills and green valleys, with
bright streams running along in them, and thick woods on
some of the slopes, and others laid out in gardens and vine-
yards. There were so many cows in the pastures, and in the
wild rocks and hollow trees so many bees' nests, that it was
called a land flowing with milk and honey.
Should not the Israelites have liked to hear of such a place
as this ? But no, they were too dull to care. They thought
more of whether they should get a leek or a melon to eat at
supper, than of all the lovely land far away. Do you know,
people are very like that when they care for now more than
for by-and-by. If we want just what pleases us to-day, instead
of caring for what will be good for us as we grow older, we
are just like the Israelites, who would not attend to Moses or
to God.

The Call of Moses. 57

QUESTIONS.
I. Who was Pharaoh ? 2. Who were the children of Israel? 3. Who
had been sent to call them? 4. What did Pharaoh say to Moses? 5.
How did he use the Israelites? 6. What would he not give them? 7.
Who was Moses' brother? 8. What was Aaron to do for Moses? 9.
Who spoke to Moses ? o1. Who told the people what God said to Moses ?
iI. What kind of place did God promise? 12. What did Moses say it
flowed with? 13. Why? 14. Did the Israelites care? 15. Why not ? 16.
When are we like them? 17. Which should we care for most, now or
by-and-by ?

THIRD READING.
"I will redeem you with a stretched out arm."-Exodus vi. 6.

T HE Israelites were very unhappy, for Pharaoh was very
cruel to them, and they thought it all Moses' fault. But
Moses told them that they would be saved, and that God was
going to show them His power, so that they might always re-
member what He had done for them, and how He punished
Pharaoh, who would not obey Him.
Then God made His power to be known; so that Pharaoh
and the children of Israel might both learn who is the great
Lord of heaven and earth, who must be obeyed. First, Moses
stretched out his rod, and all the water in the river turned
into blood. For seven days it was all one red dreadful stream
of blood; and when Moses held out his rod again it turned
back into pure water. But Pharaoh did not mind, and would
not let the people go. Then God sent a multitude of frogs,
that came into all the houses and bed-rooms, and on the

58 Ezihth Sunday-Fifth in Lent.

tables and everywhere. Pharaoh could not bear to have these
creatures everywhere, and said if the frogs would but go away
he would let the children of Israel go. Moses prayed to God,
and all the frogs died; but Pharaoh only hardened his heart
again, and would not let the people go. Next, God sent lice,
disgusting unclean creatures, most horrible to the Egyptians,
who could not bear anything dirty; but Pharaoh did not care.
Then came swarms of flies, buzzing, stinging, and tormenting ;
and Pharaoh said he would allow the Israelites to go, so the
flies were taken away; but no sooner were they gone than he
went back again to his obstinacy, and would not let the peo-
ple go. He was trying to fight against God, and so came
these terrible miseries on him. If people will not do better
after being punished, worse and worse is sure to come on them.

QUESTIONS.
I. How did God punish Pharaoh? 2. What four plagues have I told
you of to-day? 3. Why did these dreadful things happen? 4. Did
Pharaoh care for them ? 5. Why did he not mind them? 6. What hap-
pens to those who do not mind being punished?

------------ T~

DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN.

|inti ^nnbau.-||alm Sinnajr.

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT.
FIRST READING.
"There is none like Me in all the earth."-Exodus ix. 14.
"Y OU remember that when God spoke to Moses out of the
burning bush, it was to tell him that he should lead the
children of Israel away from the people in Egypt, who were
so unkind to them.
But Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, said that they should not
go; he could not spare them, and he did not care for God's

60 Nint/ Sunday-Palm Sunday.

message to him. Then God punished Pharaoh that he might
let them go. Ten times God punished him, and you hear
about three of the punishments to-day. First, how the sheep
and cows, that the Egyptians worshipped like gods, fell sick
and died, but still Pharaoh did not care; then how the people
all had sores and boils that made them very ill, but still
Pharaoh did not care; and then how there was a terrible
storm, thunder and lightning, and rain and hail-such big
hailstones as killed the men and cattle that were out in the
fields, and lightning that struck them, and wind that broke
every tree in the field. No wonder that Pharaoh was fright-
ened, and begged that the storm might cease, and said that
then he would let the Israelites go. So Moses prayed to God,
and the thunder left off, there was no more hail, and it was
all still again. But when the thunder was over Pharaoh grew
wicked again, and left off caring, and said the Israelites should
not go. And thus God went on being angry with him, till at
last he came to a terrible end.
I am afraid some children are a little like Pharaoh when
they get sulky, and say I won't," and if they are punished,
still they won't-they think nobody shall force them, and they
make themselves hard that they may not do what they are
told. It is very sad, for this hardness is very wrong, and you
see how angry God was with this king for being obstinate.
Pray to God to help you not to harden your heart, but to
teach you to obey. And do not forget and do the same thing
again when the punishment is over, or it will have done you
no good, and you will have to be punished worse next time.

The Plagues of Egypt. 61

QUESTIONS.
i. What did God desire Pharaoh to do? 2. Who spoke God's words
to Pharaoh? 3. But what did Pharaoh say? 4. Who was Pharaoh? 5.
Who was Moses? 6. What was done to Pharaoh? 7. Did he mind? 8.
Tell me the three plagues we hear of to-day. 9. How many plagues were
there in all? o1. What happened in the thunder-storm? II. What did
Pharaoh say when he was frightened ? 12. So what left off? 13. But did
he let the people go? 14. What fault in some children is the same as
Pharaoh's? 15. What ought they to do? 16. Who can help them to
fight with their obstinate temper ? 17. But how must they get God's help ?

SECOND READING.
"The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children
of Israel go."-Exodus x. 20.

.I ORSE troubles are sure to come when people have not
taken warning by what was sent them before. Pharaoh
had not minded seven dreadful plagues, so now God sent
another. He sent locusts. These were creatures like great
grasshoppers. They came in swarms and clouds, and ate up
every green leaf and blade of grass, and made all the earth
brown and the trees dry sticks, so that there was nothing left
for man or beast to eat. Then Pharaoh gave way a little, and
said he would let the men go, but that their wives and child-
ren must stay; and he would not hear a word more, but had
Moses and Aaron driven out from before him.
Then God bade Moses to hold up his hand to Heaven.
And darkness came on. It was dark all day-and with

62 Ninth Sunday-Palm Sunday.

"darkness that might be felt;" not like night, but such black
darkness that no fire or candle could give light, and no one
dared to move about; but the Egyptians lay still in their
places, full of horror and terror, for three whole days. But
all the time it was light among the Israelites-the sun rose
and set as usual; and thus God showed that they were His
people.
Then Pharaoh said that he would let them go-men, women,
and children, only he must keep all their cattle; and when
Moses, speaking God's words, said that the cattle must go too,
and not a hoof be left behind, Pharaoh made his heart hard
again, and drove out Moses, saying the people should not go,
and that Moses should never see his face again.
And Moses said, "Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy
face again no more."
So ended the last hope for Pharaoh. He was never to have
another chance of bending his will and doing as God told
him. Oh, let us take care not to be like him!

QUESTIONS.
I. How many plagues of Egypt were there ? 2. Tell me which had hap-
pened. 3. What are the two plagues in this lesson? 4. What are locusts?
5. What harm do locusts do? 6. Who did Pharaoh say might go? 7.
Whom would he not let go ? 8. What plague came then ? 9. What made
the darkness so horrible? o1. How long did it last? II. Who were not
in the dark? 12. What did Pharaoh say then? 13. What did he want
to keep back? 14. And how did he then change? 15. What did he say
to Moses? 16. How did Moses answer?

The Plagues of Egypt. 63

THIRD READING.
"He smote all the first-born in Egypt."-Psalm lxxviii. 51.

A FTER the nine sad plagues that had come upon the
Egyptians-the blood for water, the frogs, the lice, the
flies, the cattle plague, the boils, the hail, the locusts, the
darkness-there was to be still one plague more, the last and
worst. That would make the Egyptians let the people of
Israel go, so they must be ready.
There should be a terrible night. God's holy angel would
pass over the whole land of Egypt that night, and in each
house of the Egyptians he would slay the eldest son of the
family. No one would be spared: Pharaoh's eldest son, the
young prince, and the very poorest person's son. They had
killed the little Israelite babies, so God would punish them by
killing their children. None of the Israelites should lose their
children; only there was one thing for them to do. They
were that night to sup on a lamb, and, with some of the blood
of the lamb, they were to make a mark on the door-post.
Where that mark was the angel would pass over and do no
one any hurt; but the people would be blest and set free, be-
cause they believed God, and did as He bade them.

QUESTIONS.
I. How many plagues of Egypt were there? 2. Say them over. 3.
What were they all for? 4. Who would not let them go ? 5. What was
the last plague ? 6. Who were to die ? 7. Why did the Egyptians deserve
to lose their children? 8. Who would slay them ? 9. Whom would the
angel spare? 10. How were the Israelites to mark their houses? II.
With what blood? 12. What were they to do with the lamb?

iL i[l~d

I -

EATING THE PASSOVER.

THE PASSOVER.
FIRST READING.
"There was not a house in which there was not one dead."-Exodus xii. 30.
YT HIS is our own gladdest Sunday in all the year, and we
Read of the Israelites being glad too-glad upon the very
Sunday that answered to this, thousands of years ago. On
this Sunday, of all those thousands of years, there has been
joy and gladness and thanking God. And why? It was be-
cause all the troubles in Egypt were over, and God brought
the Israelites out safe. There was one thing they had to do

The Passover. 65

first, though; Moses bade them do it, as God commanded
him. Every family was to take a lamb, and it was to be killed
and roasted whole in the evening, and some of its blood was
to be marked upon the door-post of the house, and then all
the family were to stand round the table, all ready dressed for
a journey, and eat it as fast as they could, late at night.
And while all the families, fathers and mothers and child-
ren, stood up eating the lamb in this strange way, there came
a great shout and cry. God had sent His angel to punish the
cruel Egyptians; and every house where there was no mark
of blood on the door-post had some one dead in it, and that
dead person was the eldest or first-born son. There was a
great cry, for there was death everywhere, from the son of
Pharaoh who sat on his throne down to the child of the
poorest slave; and even the first-born of cattle died too, be-
cause the Egyptians used to worship them; but wherever there
was the blood on the door-post the angel passed over, and the
eldest son was safe. Then cruel King Pharaoh was sorry
and afraid at last, and said that the people who brought such
trouble on him should go where they liked.
QUESTIONS.
i. Why are we glad to-day? 2. Why were the Israelites glad to-day?
3. Where were the Israelites living? 4. What hard work had they to do ?
5. Who said they should come out? 6. Who would not let them go? 7.
What did God tell the Israelites to eat? 8. How were they to be dressed
while they ate it ? 9. What were they to do with the blood ? o1. Who
was going to pass over the land that night ? 11. What did the angel do
where he did not see any blood on the door-post? I2. Who were fright-
ened then? 13. What did the Egyptians wish then?

E

66 Tenth Sunday-Easter Day.

SECOND READING.
"It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover."-Exodus xii. 27.
W HEN the King of Egypt said the Israelites might go
they were all up and dressed, quite ready and only wait-
ing, and off they set. No more making of bricks, no more
slaving for the Egyptians, no more drowning of babies! They
were free! and God was going to lead them to the beautiful
country that long ago He had said He would give them.
And so, to put them in mind how they were saved from the
Egyptians, God bade them on the same day in each year to
kill a lamb and roast it, and put the blood on the door-post,
and eat the lamb all standing round the table, dressed as if
they were going for a journey, that they might never forget
how God had made them free. This was called the Passover,
because the angel passed over the houses where the blood was
marked over the door. And God came in a pillar of cloud to
show them the way they should go.
Our blessed Lord was crucified when He had come to the
Feast of the Passover many years after. You know He was
like a lamb, He was so pure and gentle; and His Blood saves
us, as that lamb's blood did the Israelites, and sets us free
from the power of the devil. So we still keep the feast of
being set free, on this happy Easter Sunday, when we recol-
lect that Christ was slain for our sins, but that He rose again
from the dead, and liveth for evermore.
QUESTIONS.
I. What did Pharaoh say that the Israelites might do ? 2. What made
him let them go at last? 3. Who were set free? 4. What were the

The Passover. 67

Israelites to do every year? 5. What was this eating the lamb called?
6. Why was it called the Passover ? 7. Why were the Israelites glad ?
8. Who set us free? 9. What did our Lord do as on this day? o1. In
what is He like a lamb? 11. So what did we say in the Easter Anthem
to-day? 12. How did God lead them?

THIRD READING.
"The children of Israel shall go on dry ground through, the midst of the
sea."-Exodus xiv. 16.
ALL the Egyptians were weeping over their dead first-born
sons, and the Israelites were set free, and going gladly
out and away from their hard masters.
But Pharaoh's hard heart turned again, and he got all his
chariots and horsemen together, and went after the children
of Israel to drive them back to Egypt. And when he came
in sight of them, there they were all upon the shore of the
sea called the Red Sea. They could not go on, for the sea
was straight before them; they could not go back, for the
Egyptians were behind. They were sore afraid. But God
spoke to Moses, and told him not to fear. They had only to
stand still and see how God would save them.
And God Himself showed that He was with them, for the
pillar of cloud went behind them, instead of before, and made
it dark to the Egyptians, but gave light by night to the
Israelites: so the Egyptians could not get near them all
night.
Then God bade Moses stretch out his rod over the sea.
And then there was a great wonder. The waves of the sea

68 Tenth Sunday-Easter Day.

parted, and stood up on each side in a heap, and in between
there was a wide open space, where the children of Israel
might walk safely dry-shod, through the very midst of the
sea. Through it they went, men, women, and children,
through the depths of the sea, with the waves standing still
on each side of them.
Pharaoh saw that they were all gone over. He chose to
follow after them. But when his host was full in the midst,
the sea returned to its strength again and came down on the
Egyptians, and every one of them was drowned-" they sank
like lead in the mighty waters"-and the Israelites were freed
from their enemies, quite away from all their trouble and all
their slavery; and they sang hymns of joy to God, who had
set them free.
And we read about their being set free, because this is the
great Easter Day when we give thanks to our Blessed Lord
for having set us free.

QUESTIONS.
i. What last plague had come on Egypt? 2. Who had set off to leave
Egypt ? 3. But what did Pharaoh do ? 4. What was before the Israelites ?
5. What was behind? 6. Where did the pillar of cloud go? 7. How
were the Egyptians cut off from them? 8. What wonder did God work?
9. Where did the Israelites go over? Io. Who came after them? II.
What became of the Egyptians? 12. Who were free? 13. Who had
made them free?

'_________________________

1-..i, .; tl b a .-first af. r ta..'

"iThe Lord w(ll show who are His, and who is holy."-Numbers xvi. 5.
S i i ,; ,,, ", A-

"Israelites came out of Egypt they had a long journey to.,
h. iI I [,t' !

----go, through a dreary, lonely wilderness Moses and his bro-'--'- -
AARON'S KOU.

^lcbnft Subt in.-4Jirst afttr 8 aster.

THE GAINSAYING OF KORAH.
FIRST READING.
"The Lord will show who are His, and who is holy."-Numbers xvi. 5.
T HERE is a sad history in the Lesson to-day. When the
A Israelites came out of Egypt they had a long journey to
go, through a dreary, lonely wilderness. Moses and his bro-
ther Aaron led them; and God took care of them, and fed
them, and kept them safe. But there were some wicked men,
named Dathan and Abiram, who were tired of the wilderness,

70 Eleventh Sunday-First afler Easter.

and were angry at having Moses for their leader and master,
though God had made him lead them, and had done so much
for them. They said they were as good as Moses, and that
he should not be their prince. They did not care for God
having spoken by him.
Their end was so very dreadful that I can hardly tell it to
you. God would not let them rise up against His servant
Moses; and when they would not listen nor repent He made
the earth open under their feet, and they went down alive,
and were swallowed up in the pit before the eyes of all the
other Israelites; and so they died the most terrible death
anyone ever died. It was because they set themselves up
against Moses, whom God had placed over them, that He was
so angry with them.
Remember God has set people over us: there are our
fathers and mothers, and our clergymen and teachers; and it
is our duty to obey them, as He tells us in the Fifth Com-
mandment. If we are proud and saucy it is very wrong of us.
It is not likely that we should be so dreadfully punished in
this life as Dathan and Abiram were; but their horrible death
should make us remember that God is very angry with those
that will not try to obey those that have the rule over them,
and set themselves up to be bold and proud, and to say they
do not care.
QUESTIONS.
I. What is the Fifth Commandment? 2. What is the explanation of it
in the Duty to our Neighbour? 3. Who was set over the Israelites by
God? 4. Where had he brought them from ? 5. Where was he leading

The Gainsaying of Korah. 71

them to? 6. How should they have behaved to him? 7. What bad men
were there among them? 8. Whom did they not care for ? 9. What did
they say? 10. Why was it very wicked of Dathan and Abiram not to
obey Moses? II. What terrible end did they come to? 12. Why was
God angry with Dathan and Abiram? 13. What makes Him angry?
14. Whom did you say He had set over you? 15. Then how must you
behave to your parents and clergyman and teachers ?

SECOND READING.
"And seek ye the priesthood also ?"-Numbers xvi. 10.
W HEN God gave the Commandments upon Mount Sinai,
He chose that Aaron, Moses' brother, and his sons
should be His priests. A priest had to offer up the sacrifices
to God, and to burn incense to Him. Incense is made of
dried plants and gums that have a sweet smell when they are
burnt. The priests had brazen urns with holes at the top, and
chains to hold them by, and when the smoke of the incense
went up it was just as our prayers rise up to God in heaven.
There were other people called Levites, who had to take care
of the holy things that were used in God's service, but only
the priests might offer sacrifices or incense.
Now one of these Levites, named Korah, wanted to do
more. He was angry, and said everybody was holy, and that
Aaron took too much on himself. Now it was not Aaron
who made himself priest, but God had made him so. There-
fore it was wrong in Korah; but there were two hundred and
fifty men whom he persuaded to come and get censers, and
offer incense to the Lord as if they had been priests. But
I_____________________

---
72 Eleventh Sunday-First after Easter.

because they did it in pride and self-will God was angry with
them, and His fire burst out and scorched them all to death!
It was only the men themselves that died, not their wives or
children; and Korah's family after him were better than he
was, and used to sing God's praises in the Psalms.
But they always recollected that no one who was not a
priest might offer sacrifice or burn incense before God.

QUESTIONS.
I. What had a priest to do? 2. What was a sacrifice? 3. What was
incense? 4. What was it burnt in? 5. Who only might offer sacrifice
and incense? 6. Who was the right priest? 7. How came Aaron to be
priest? 8. Who wanted to offer incense? 9. What did Korah say? 1o.
How many came with him? ii. What did they try to do? 12. What
happened to the two hundred and fifty? 13. Why were they punished ?
14. What became of Korah's children? 15. Who are our priests? 16.
How were they made priests ? 17. What may they alone do ?

TF:RD READING.
"The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth
buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds."-Numbers xvii. 8.

T HE high-priest, whom God chose, had to offer sacrifices
to Him. That was, the priest slew a lamb, or a goat, or
a bullock, by the altar, and gave it to God. It was to show
that the Son of God would come and die to take away sin.
Now He has come and died, we have left off killing creatures
in sacrifice, and only make remembrance over again of His
sacrifice in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
The high-priest used to wear a beautiful dress. He had a

The Gainsaying of Korah. 73

mitre on his head, with a gold plate on it, and the words,
"Holiness unto the Lord;" and he had a blue, red, and white
robe, embroidered with gold, and round the hem little gold
bells and pomegranates. He had a curious scarf called an
ephod, and a beautiful breast-plate made of twelve precious
stones, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes of
Israel engraven on it.
God said He would show who should be His priest. So He
bade Moses desire the chief man in each tribe to bring him a
dry rod or staff, and lay them up all night in the Holy Place.
The one whose rod began to grow as if it was still on the
tree should be the high-priest. When the twelve men went
to look in the morning, eleven rods were dry sticks still, but
one had put out green leaves and pink buds, and white blush-
ing flowers, like almond blossoms. It was Aaron's rod; and
this was the way God let the children of Israel know that
Aaron and his sons, and grandsons after him, were always to
be priests.
QUESTIONS.
i. What was a priest? 2. What had he to do? 3. What was a sacri-
fice? 4. How was it offered? 5. What creatures were killed ? 6. Where
were they put? 7. What was this to make the children of Israel think of?
8. Why don't we kill sacrifices now? 9. Who has been sacrificed? 1o.
What did the high-priest wear on his head? i What colour was his
dress? 12. How was it edged? 13. What was on his breast? 14. What
did God say He would show? 15. What were twelve men to bring? 16.
Where were the rods put ? 17. What was to show who should be priest ?
18. What were the eleven rods like in the morning ? 19. But how did one
look ? 20. Whose was it ? 2I. What, then, was Aaron to be ?

\ ../\"... -7 ;5.J- -

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MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK.
afr,

ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS.

"Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God."-Deut. vi. 16.
STOLD you what sort of place a desert is, and how full it
is of stones, and rocks, and sand, and with no water in it.
Do you remember how thirsty Ishmael was in a desert, and
how God heard the voice of the lad, and sent an angel to lead
his mother to a well of water ?
When the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt,

Israel in the Wilderness. 75

they were in a terrible wilderness. Mount Sinai stood up in
the midst, and all round were great rocks of red and black
marble, all dry and parched with the hot sun shining on them.
The Israelites grew very hot and sadly thirsty, but they did
not pray as Ishmael had done. They grew angry, and said,
"Is the Lord among us or no ?" Do you not think they de-
served that God should show whether He was among them
by punishing them for grumbling? That was the way they
tempted God. But He was so good and merciful that He
pitied them; and He bade Moses to take His rod, and go to
the bare, dry rock, and strike it. And when Moses struck the
rock, God made a beautiful, fresh, clear spring of water come
pouring out of it, so that all the people, and all their cows,
and sheep, and asses, and camels, could drink and be re-
freshed. Was not that a great wonder? and was not God
very kind to them, though they were not good ? But you see
God was near to help them all the time, and it was very sad
that they grumbled instead of praying. Do not be like them.
If a thing is hard to bear, don't murmur and grumble about
it, but pray, and then you will get help. Either the vexing
thing will go away, or you will leave off minding it.
QUESTIONS.
I. Where had the Israelites come from? 2. Who was leading them?
3. What kind of place did they get into? 4. What is a desert like? 5.
What was the mountain in the midst of the desert? 6. What cannot be
found in the desert ? 7. Who was the lad that was thirsty there before?
8. What did Ishmael do when he was thirsty? 9. But what did the
Israelites do? o1. What did they say? II. What would have served
them right? 12. But did God punish them? 13. What did He tell Moses
t

76 Twelfth Sunday-Second after Easter.

to take? 14. What did Moses strike? 15. What came out of the rock?
16. Who made the water come out of the rock ? 17. Was it not very good
of God to give them water? 18. What ought they to have done? 19.
What should you do when a thing is hard ? 20. Is it not very naughty to
grumble ?

SECOND READING.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up."--olzn iii. 14.

ONE great fault of the Israelites was that they had no
patience. The moment they saw anything troublesome
or difficult, they began to cry out, and say they could not get
on, and it was very hard on them. Now it is very wrong ever
to say God is very hard upon us, for we may be sure He is
doing what is best for us. There was one stony, hot, steep
part of the journey still to come, and when the Israelites saw
it they forgot how often God had helped them, and cried out,
and lamented, and complained of Him and of Moses.
So again they were punished, for the little shining snakes
that live there came in numbers, darting at them and biting
them, so that the bite burnt like fire, and they died. Then
they cried out to God and were sorry, and He told Moses of
a wonderful way to cure them. Moses was to melt up some
brass and make a great serpent, like the little ones that bit
them, and set it up on a pole. Then if anyone who was
bitten would come at once and look up at the brazen serpent,
his bite would get well, and he would not die of it.
This was a miracle-a wonder. And it was to teach the
Israelites something, and us too. For you know our Blessed

Israel in the Wilderness. 77

Lord hung on the cross, as the serpent hung on the pole; and
when our souls are in danger of dying of sin, we must think
of Him, and look to Him in faith, and He will save us from
being punished for our sin, and keep our souls from dying.
QUESTIONS.
I. What sort of place had the Israelites to go over? 2. How did they
like it ? 3. What did they do ? 4. Why ought they not to have cried out?
5. Who had been taking care of them? 6. So how did God punish them ?
7. What happened when the serpents bit them ? 8. What were they sorry
for? 9. So what was Moses to make ? 10. Where did he put the brazen
serpent? II. What were they to do if they were bit? 12. What cured
them? 13. Who hung upon the cross? 14. What does He cure our
souls of?

THIRD READING.
"He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,
which thou knewest not."-Deut. viii. 3.
T HIS morning you heard how God gave the children of
Israel water to drink in the wilderness. Now you shall
hear what He gave them to eat. The ground was all hard
stones. There was grass which the cows and sheep could eat,
and there were a few trees with long sharp thorns, but no
fruit on them, and no corn to make bread; and soon the peo-
ple were very hungry, and began to cry out that they did not
know what would become of them.
But God was not going to forget them. When they rose up
in the morning, the fresh dew lay on the grass, and all about
in the dew were little white things that tasted like wafers
made with honey. This was called manna, and God had sent

78 Twelftl Sunday-Second after Easter.

it from heaven for them to eat. Every morning on week
days there it was, and they had all to come out and pick it
up. But they must get up early to gather it, for when the
sun was hot it would melt away. And they could not keep
it-it grew bad and was not fit to use the next day; but there
was always just enough for everybody to have all they wanted.
There was only one day in each week that more came down,
and that was the day before the Sabbath-day, which they had
instead of Sunday. Then each one could get twice as much
as could be eaten in one day, and it did not spoil so fast. For
on the Sabbath-day God would have them rest, and so no
manna was to be found anywhere, so that they might learn to
keep the Fourth Commandment-Remember the Sabbath-
day to keep it holy. All the time they stayed in the wilder-
ness, the sweet white manna lay on the grass in the morning
for them to pick it up-twice as much on the sixth day of the
week, and on the Sabbath-day none at all. Was not that
very good of God ?
QUESTIONS.
i. Where were the Israelites ? 2. What had they to drink in the wilder-
ness? 3. What else did they want? 4. Why could they not get bread?
5. What did God give them instead? 6. What was the manna like? 7.
Where did it lie? 8. When was the manna on the grass ? 9. Who were
to eat it? Io. Who sent it? II. What became of it in hot sunshine? 12.
Would it keep ? 13. What was the day when it could be kept? 14. How
much came down the day before the Sabbath? 15. What might not be
done on the Sabbath? 16. What is the Fourth Commandment? 17. So
why did they get twice as much manna the day before? 18. When did
no manna come ? 19. What day have we instead of the Sabbath ?

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.-PAGE 76.

Cnrtetr after gatar.

BALAAM AND BALAK.
FIRST READING.
"Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."-Numbers xxii. 12.
T HERE was a prophet called Balaam. A prophet means
a man to whom God made His will known, and who was
thus much wiser than other men. This prophet one day saw
some rich great men come to his house. They brought him
a message, that a king named Balak wanted him to come with
them, and would give him great rewards for coming. Balaam

80 Thirteenth Sunday- Third after Easter.

said he must wait for one night, and God would make known
to him what he was to do. And at night God told him he
was not to go; for what Balak wanted of him was to curse
the children of Israel, and God would not have them cursed.
So Balaam said he must not go, and the messengers went
away.
But Balak sent more princes, still grander men, with larger
presents, to fetch Balaam. He answered, "If Balak would
give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond
the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." But he had
not left off wishing. He begged the messengers to stay, and
see if God would give him leave to go. And this time God did
say he might go, but that he should not say anything about
the Israelites but what God put in his mouth. Balaam knew
that God was not pleased with him; but he wanted Balak's
rewards, and he set off in the morning, riding on his.ass.
Presently the ass was frightened, and turned out of the road
into the field. Balaam was angry at this, and beat the ass.
But again the ass turned aside in a narrow walled path, and
squeezed Balaam's foot against the wall. He beat her again.
Presently, in a very narrow road, the poor ass fell quite down
for fear; and Balaam was very angry, and beat her harder.
Then God worked a wonder. He made the dumb ass to
speak, and ask why he was so cruel to her. He answered that
he only wished for a sword to kill her. The ass asked if she
had ever been like this before. He said, No. And then, full
before him, he saw God's holy angel with a sword in his hand.
And he fell down on his face. The poor ass had seen the

Balaam and Balak. 81

angel all the time; but Balaam could not see him till God
made him able. And now he was afraid, and would have
gone back; but the angel said he must go on now, though he
would only be able to speak the words which God put in his
mouth. Think if, sometimes when you have been told you
must not do something, you fret and teaze to do it-is not
that like Balaam ? And perhaps you teaze till some one
gives you leave to do as you wish. Then you get quite cross
with eagerness, and are unkind to all that hinders you; and,
after all, you do not find that any good comes of getting your
own way.
QUESTIONS.
I. What is a prophet? 2. Who sent for Balaam ? 3. What did God
tell Balaam ? 4. But what did Balaam wish? 5. How did he get leave
to go at last? 6. But who stood in his way? 7. Who saw the angel at
first? 8. What did Balaam do to the ass? 9. What wonder did God
work? o1. What did the ass say? II. Whom did Balaam see? I2.
What did the angel tell him? 13. What had he been allowed to have?
14. Does good come of having our own way ?

SECOND READING.
"There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Israel."-Numbers xxiv. 17.
T HERE was a king named Balak, whose land the Israelites
were to pass through. They promised not to do any
harm to him or his people, if they might go quietly through;
but he was afraid and angry, and wanted to have them cursed,
hoping to bring God's anger on them. That was a very wicked

F

82 Thirteenth Sunday- Third after Easter.

and foolish notion of King Balak's; and God would not let it
bring harm upon His people. They had not deserved to have
His anger called down on them, and so He would not be
angry with them. And when Balak's friend Balaam tried to
speak curses, God turned them all to blessings ; and, instead of
saying they should come to a terrible end, he could only say
how happy and well off they should be, with God to take care
of them, and be their King. He even went on to say that a
Star should come out of Jacob, and a Sceptre should rise out
of Israel-and that meant that our Saviour should be born
among them. He is called a Star, because He came to give
us light; and you know a star showed the way to the place
where He was born. And a sceptre is the rod a king carries
in his hand. So when He was called the Sceptre, it meant
that He should be a King.
Only think how angry Balak was, when Balaam could not
curse, but only blessed. I wish he had been afraid, and seen
it was not God's will that he should hurt the Israelites ; but
instead of that, he went on in his wickedness, and was miser-
ably killed at last; for God took care of His people, and
would let no one do them any harm.
Now, recollect, bad words and bad wishes do harm to the
person that speaks them, not to those they are meant for. If
a bad boy came and abused a steady one for going to church,
or saying his prayers, it would be very bad for himself; but if
the good boy kept on quietly, nothing that the other could say
would hurt him one bit. God would take care of him as surely
as He took care of the Israelites.

Balaam and Balak. 83

QUESTIONS.
I. What did Balak want? 2. Why did he want the Israelites to be
cursed? 3. Whom did he set to curse the Israelites? 4. But what did
Balaam do instead ? 5. Why could he not curse them? 6. Who would
not let him curse them ? 7. Who was to be born among them ? 8. What
did Balaam call our Saviour? 9. Why was He like a star? o1. Why was
He like a sceptre? II. Could Balak hurt the Israelites ? 12. Why not?
13. Whom do bad words hurt ? 14. Ought we to mind them ? 15. If any-
one teazes you when you try to be good, must you leave off ?

THIRD READING.
"The people did eat, and bowed down to their gods."-N-umbers xxv. 2.
Y OU heard how Balaam went to Balak; and how God made
him bless the children of Israel when he wanted to curse
them. But even this did not make Balaam good. He wanted
Balak to give him a reward; and so he told him that though
no harm could happen to the people of Israel while they were
good and worshipped their God, yet if he could make them do
something wicked, and turn away from their God, then God
would be sure to punish them.
So these two wicked men sent a number of women to invite
the Israelites to hold a great feast with them, in honour of
their idol Baal Peor. Many were so foolish and wicked as to
be led away; and they had a great feasting and revelling, and
all kinds of bad pleasures that these heathen women said were
to do praise to this horrible false god. Then, though Balak
might have cursed for ever without hurting them, they had

84 Thirteenth Sunday- Third after Easter.

done themselves the harm. God sent a deadly sickness, and
in one day twenty-four thousand people died.
But Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, did as Moses commanded
him. He first put to death the wickedest of the people who
had joined themselves to Baal Peor; and then he prayed-and
all the people prayed and wept too. So God forgave them,
and the plague ceased.
Afterwards Phinehas led the Israelite fighting men to punish
the wicked Balak and his people; and Balaam was killed in
fighting with them. All the wicked women who had tempted
the Israelites away from God were put to death too. So
Balaam's evil counsel ended in all sorts of misery. It is very
sad to think of him, for he knew so well what was good, and
yet did what was so very bad. But remember this, nobody
could hurt God's people till they did wrong, and then they
hurt themselves, and God punished them.

QUESTIONS.
i. What did Balak want to do ? 2. How had Balak tried to hurt the
children of Israel? 3. Why could not Balaam curse them? 4. What
did Balaam think would be the way to hurt them ? 5. Whom did he send
to them ? 6. Whom did the women persuade them to worship ? 7. What
did God send to punish them ? 8. How was the plague stopped ? 9. How
was Balaam punished ? o1. Why was Balaam greatly to be blamed ? I1.
When could not Balaam hurt the Israelites? 12. When could he hurt
them ? 13. For who took care of them when they were good ?

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GATHERING MANNA (PAGE 77).

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THE GIVING OF THE LAW.
FIRST READING.
"Thou hardest His words out of the midst of the fire."-Deut. iv. 36.
W HEN the children of Israel had come out of Egypt, God
had told Moses to lead them to the foot of Mount Sinai.
This was a high steep rocky mountain in the wilderness. And
God told Moses to set bounds round the mountain, so that
nobody should come and touch it; and the people were to
pray, and wait round it for the holy and awful thing that was

86 Fourteenth Sunday-Fourth after Easter.

to happen. Then there came on the hill-top a deep dark
cloud, and the mountain was altogether on a smoke, and it
shook and quaked, and there were lightning and thunders
and voices, and the sound of a trumpet loud and louder, so
that all the people trembled. Then out of that cloud there
came a voice speaking to them-a voice that they all could
hear, and that made them afraid. For it was the voice of
God. And God spoke out of the cloud, and gave the Ten
Commandments. They were the very same Ten Command-
ments you say in the Catechism, and see written up in church.
God had come in this terrible and awful manner to speak
them, that all Israel might hear and fear, and take care not to
break them. Afterwards God gave these Ten Commandments
to Moses, written upon two tables-or pieces of stone-written
by God Himself. That was the way the Ten Commandments
were given-by God's own voice speaking to men, out of the
cloud, amid thunders and lightning, and the sound of the
trumpet, dreadful to hear. And God means us all to obey the
Commandments, just as much as He meant the Israelites to
obey them. They are His words, and must be kept; and
if we ask Him in our prayers He will give us help and strength
to obey them, so that we may fulfil the promise that was made
at our baptism, that we should keep God's Holy Will and
Commandments, and walk in the same unto our lives' end.

QUESTIONS.
I. Where had the children of Israel come from? 2. Who was leading
them ? 3. Where did God tell Moses to take them? 4. What wonderful
sight did they see on Mount Sinai? 5. What did they hear? 6. Who
i _________________________

The Giving of the Law. 87

spoke out of the cloud? 7. What did God speak? 8. How many Com-
mandments ? 9. Tell me the first of them. Io. On what did God write
them ? II. To whom did He give them? 12. When do you say them?
13. When did you promise to keep them ? 14. What is keeping the Com-
mandments? 15. How can you be helped to do as they tell you? 16.
How must you ask for God's help ?

SECOND READING.
" The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of
the fire."-Deuteronomy v. 4.

W' HEN the lightning and thunder and the loud voice of the
trumpet came forth from the cloud on Mount Sinai, and
God had spoken the Ten Commandments, He called to Moses
to come up and speak with Him in the cloud. How wonder-
ful it must have been! Moses was the only man that ever
spoke so near to God.
God gave him two blocks of stone written with the Ten
Commandments, written with God's own Finger. Then God
told him to make a chest to keep them in. It was to be made
of wood, with gold all over it; and two figures of cherubims
were to be one on each side. This chest was to be called the
Ark of the Covenant. And it was to be put into a square
room, inside a tent, that was to be made with curtains, and
carried about with the Israelites. It was to be called the
Tabernacle. And this was to be a very holy place. The
children of Israel would say their prayers in front of the
Tabernacle; but they were not to go into the place where the
Ark was, because they were sinful, and God is holy. That

88 Fourteenth Sunday-Fourth after Easter.

place was to be called the Holy of Holies, and no one might
go near it but the Priests whom God chose, and set apart to
lead His worship. The first High Priest was to be Moses'
brother Aaron ; and he was to wear a beautiful dress when he
ministered before God-a high cap with Holiness to the
Lord on it, a long embroidered robe, edged with gold bells
and pomegranates, and a blue scarf crossed over his breast;
and in the middle a breast-plate, made of twelve precious
stones, each carved with the name of one of the twelve tribes
of Israel, so that he might have them on his heart as he prayed
to God. All this and much more God told Moses while he
was on the mount.
QUESTIONS.
I. What was given on Mount Sinai ? 2. Who spoke the Commandments ?
3. To whom did God give them? 4. What were they written on? 5.
Who wrote them? 6. Where were they to be kept? 7. What was the
chest like? 8. What was the chest called? 9. Where was Moses to put
the chest? o1. What was the room called? I Who might go near the
Holy of Holies? 12. Who was the first High Priest? 13. Who was
Aaron ? 14. What was Aaron to wear ? 15. Why might not the people
come near ?

THIRD READING.
Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God."-Deut. vii. 9.
SHEN Moses went up into the awful cloud upon Mount
"Sinai, he stayed there forty days.
But all the Israelites below were impatient. They could not
think what had become of Moses; and though they had so
lately heard God's own Voice speaking to them, they would not

The Giving of the Law. 89

wait as they had been told to do. They cried out that they
wanted something instead of Moses, whom they had lost. So
they took all their gold ear-rings and melted them, and made
an image of a golden calf. And then these foolish wicked
people began to feast and dance, and worship this golden idol.
Moses was coming down Mount Sinai with the two Tables of
the Commandments in his hands. And first he heard a shout-
ing and singing; then he saw the people leaping and dancing,
and the great golden idol standing in the midst. Then he was
sure it was of no use to bring them the Commandments if they
minded them no better. So he took the two tables of stone,
and threw them out of his hand, and broke them to pieces.
Then he went down, and severely punished the worst of the
Israelites for having disobeyed the commandment. And he
broke the golden calf to pieces, and ground it to powder.
Then he went and prayed to God to forgive the people.
God did forgive them, and let Moses bring two fresh tables of
stone to be written with the Ten Commandments. But the
first that they had lost were the tables God had given, and
they could never have them back again!

QUESTIONS.
I. Where was Moses gone ? 2. What was God going to give him ? 3.
Who were left below ? 4. What did the Israelites want ? 5. What did
they take off ? 6. What did they make of their ear-rings ? 7. What is the
Second Commandment ? 8. How did they break the Second Command-
ment? 9. What did Moses do to the Tables of the Law? o1. Why did
he throw them down? II. What did he do with the golden calf? 12.
Where did he go then ? 13. What did he do for the Israelites ?

'1', -' .' } '

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MOSES SPEAKING THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY.

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THE GIVING OF THE LA W.
FIRST READING.
"I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy not
Thy people and Thine inheritance."-Deut. ix. 26.
L AST Sunday you heard how sadly the people of Israel
sinned by making the golden calf, while Moses was up in
the mountain, and how he punished them.
Then he said he would go and pray to God to forgive them,
and try them again. So up he went over the rough rocks of
Mount Sinai, and into the cloud again, where he had spoken

The Giving of the Law. 91

with God before. And he prayed with all his might that God
would not cast off His people, though they had been so
wicked, but would give them again the Commandments on
their tables of stone. And God listened to Moses, and pro-
mised to give them the Commandments again. Then Moses
made a great request: he said to God, "I pray Thee, show
me Thy glory." But God said, Thou canst not see My Face,
for there shall no man see Me and live." But Moses was to
come up the mountain the next day, and bring with him two
blocks of stone, and then God would let him see as much of
His glory as he could bear.
On the next day Moses went up the mountain again, and
took with him the two tables of stone. And the Lord came
down in the cloud; and Moses was in the cleft of the rock,
where he could see a small part of the glory, and hear the
Lord's Voice proclaim before him, The Lord, The Lord God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in good-
ness and truth." Then indeed Moses bowed his head and
worshipped. No man ever came so close to God as Moses,
with whom God spoke face to face, as a man speaketh to his
friend.
Moses stayed forty days and forty nights up in the moun-
tain. And God again wrote the Commandments upon the
two tables of stone, and granted the Israelites to try again to
keep them. When Moses came down from being in converse
with God, the glory was still about his face. It was all shin-
ing like the sun, and was so bright that the Israelites could
not fix their eyes on it; and he was obliged to put a veil over
_________________________

92 Fifteenkt Sunday-Fifth after Easter.

his face, because they could not bear to look at it. Was ever
living man so favoured, and brought into such glory ?
QUESTIONS.
I. What wicked thing had the Israelites done? 2. Who prayed for
their forgiveness ? 3. Where did Moses go to pray for their forgiveness ?
4. Who forgave them? 5. What did Moses venture to ask God to show
him? 6. But what can no one do? 7. Where was Moses placed? 8.
What passed by? 9. What voice did he hear? o1. How was Moses
more honoured than any man? II. How long did he stay in the moun-
tain? 12. What did God give him again? 13. How did his face look
when he came down? 14. What did he do to hide his face? 15. How
came his face to be so glorious?

SECOND READING.
"Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him."-Deut. xiii. 4.
WHEN the Israelites came into the good land where they
were going, they were to be very careful not to learn to
worship idols. For idols were no gods at all-only wood and
stone-and could not hear them pray, nor give them what they
wanted. Besides, the people round them had very frightful
ways of trying to please their false gods. They had one
called Moloch, made of brass, and they used to offer poor
little children up in sacrifice to him, and make a noise with
drums and trumpets, that no one might hear their cries.
There was another god called Baal, to whom they set up
great images, and feasted in his honour; and a goddess, whom
they called the queen of heaven, or Ashtoreth. Women used
to offer cakes to her, and dance in honour of her, for they
thought she sent the moon to shine on them.

The Giving of the Law. 93

Now, the Israelites were not to worship any of these false
gods. They were to remember how they heard the Only True
God speaking to them out of the cloud upon the mountain,
and telling them, "I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt have
no other gods but Me." And God told them that if they
would worship Him and serve Him, all should go well with
them, and they should be happy and blessed. But if they
went after these false idols, all would go ill with them, and
there would be only sorrow and misery.

QUESTIONS.
I. Say the First Commandment. 2. Say the Second. 3. What three
idols did the people of the country worship? 4. What did they do in
honour of Moloch? 5. What did they do in honour of Baal? 6. What
did they call Ashtoreth? 7. What did they think she sent them? 8.
Who made the moon? 9. What would happen if the children of Israel
worshipped God ? o1. What would happen if they worshipped idols ?

THIRD READING.
"It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known My
ways."-Psalm xcv. 10.

A FTER the Commandments were given the Israelites went
on their journey. The Ark, or chest, where the Com-
mandments on their two tables of stone were kept, was car-
ried before them; and God still showed that He was with
them, for He made a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by
night go along with them, and rest on it.
When they came near the land of Canaan, twelve men were

94 Fifteenth Sunday-Fifth after Easter.

sent on to see it. They came back, bringing such a great
bunch of grapes that two had to carry it between them on a
pole! But they said that the land was full of strong cities,
and very strong men, and they should never be able to win it,
but would all be killed. Only two men, Joshua and Caleb,
recollected that there could be no fear, for God had promised
to save them and bring them in. The others all cried, and
said they would go back to Egypt, and threw stones at Moses
and Aaron when they wanted to quiet them.
Then God showed His glory, and would have cut them all
off in a moment if Moses had not prayed for them. But He
said none of those who had said they would not go into the
good land should go. They were to stay forty years longer
in the dismal wilderness, till all the grown-up men, except
Joshua and Caleb, should be dead, and their children be
grown up in their stead. Then their children, who had
learned to trust God and do as He bade, should be the ones
to go in and live in the promised land.

QUESTIONS.

i. How did the Israelites know which way to go in the wilderness ? 2.
What was the ark? 3. What was in it? 4. How did God show them
His Presence? 5. Whom did Moses send to look at the land? 6. What
did these men bring back ? 7. But what did they say of the country ? 8.
Who were afraid? 9. Why was it wrong to be afraid? o1. Who only
were not afraid ? I. What were the people ready to do ? 2. How were
they to be punished ? 13. How long were they to stay in the wilderness ?
14. Who would die? 15. Who would grow up to go in? 16. Who were
the two good brave men? 17. What was promised to Joshua and Caleb?

------ ----" I -- -- -
Ir-

MO.SES VIEWING T I I PR OMISED LAND.

"They angered Him also at the waters of strife."-Psam Cvi. 32.
AFTER all the forty years in the wilderness, the children
of Israel were quite close to their home in the promised
land. There was only the river Jordan between them and
-':s.."- .. .,.t^ !

-: .- .^ .. . .. 1 . .. .... ,- -

the hills and valleys there. But Moses was not to go with

them. Once when the people were crying out for more water
and God told him to command the stream to come out of the
FIRST READING.
"They angered Him also at the waters of strife."--Psalm cvi. 32.
AFTER all the forty years in the wilderness, the children
of Israel were quite close to their home in the promised
land. There was only the river Jordan between them and
the hills and valleys there. But Moses was not to go with
them. Once when the people were crying out for more water,
and God told him to command the stream to come out of the

96 Sixteenlh Sunday-Afler Ascension.

rock, Moses was so hot with anger that he did not attend.
He said, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of
this rock?" And he struck the rock with his rod, instead of
speaking to it. The water came out as it had done before;
but Moses had been so hasty that he had not thought how to
obey God exactly, and so he was not to be allowed to lead
the people in as a great warrior, lest he should fail again.
God was not angry with him, but had forgiven him; only he
had his punishment because he had done wrong.
Joshua was to lead the people, instead of Moses. So before
Moses was taken away, he called Joshua and all the chief men
of each tribe, and put them in mind of all that God had done
for them, and warned them very solemnly, that if they broke
their promise and did not keep the Commandments, God would
punish them-first a little, and then more and more, and would
even cast them out of the good land at last. For, mind, God
always keeps His promises; and as surely as He gives the
good all that is best for them, so surely He will punish those
who turn from Him.

QUESTIONS.
i. Where were the Israelites? 2. How long had their journey lasted.?
3. Where were they going ? 4. What lay between them and the land of
Canaan? 5. Who had led them? 6. But what one thing had Moses
done? 7. What was he not to do? 8. Who was to lead them in? 9.
What did Moses tell the Israelites they must be careful to do ? o1. What
had they promised to keep? I. What would happen if they broke the
promise? 12. What would happen if they kept the promise? 13. What
promises have we made?

The Death of Moses. 97

SECOND READING.
"So Moses the servant of the Lord died."-Deuteronomy xxxiv. 5.

T was not God's will that Moses should lead the Israelites
into the promised land, but he was to die on the east
side of the river Jordan; and so he would have his rest above
instead of in the land of promise. But first God told him he
might see the land. So he went up into a very high hill:
and there God made him able to see all the home of his
people-the snowy hill of Hermon, and Mount Lebanon
where the cedar trees grow, and the hills and valleys where
Abraham had wandered and Isaac and Jacob had lived, and
which he had hoped for all his life; and green fields, and
corn-fields, and vineyards, on to the great blue sea stretching
out to the westward. That was where his people were to
live; but there was a better home for Moses. Nobody saw
him any more after he went up into the mountain. There
he died, and the Lord buried him, and no one knows of
his grave-only the children of Israel wept and mourned
for him.
QUESTIONS.
i. Where had the Israelites come? 2. Who had led them? 3. But
where was Moses not to go ? 4. But what did God allow him to see ? 5.
Where was he to go ? 6. What did God show him there ? 7. What kind
of place was it? 8. Where had he brought the people from? 9. Who
was to lead them in ? o. What was to happen to Moses? Iz. Did any
one ever see him again? 12. What does no one know? 13. Why do we
think so much of Moses? 14. Where did he speak with God? 15. Was
he not the greatest man of all in the Old Testament ?